Stargate Millennium: Truth
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off series: With their new 305 Typhon, the team returns to Millennium with questions that need answering. But sometimes the truth is not what you want to hear and sometimes answers bring up more questions.
1. Chapter 1

**Previously on Stargate Millennium**

**The Millennium Expedition has received a new gift: the FF-305 Typhon. However, the expedition discovers the ship abandoned and adrift in the middle of space. They discover that a computer virus has infected and disabled the ship. After a lengthy voyage through the empty void, Wolf Pack and Jennifer Hailey successfully restore systems and restore the crew. However, their woes are not over. Chen confides in Nova that the virus that infected the Typhon appears to be Tok'ra in origin.**

-.-

Water. That was the only thing Nova could see. Water. She was standing on water; a shimmering ocean beneath her feet. She was immersed in darkness, blackness in every direction. The only source of light came from the glowing water she stood upon.

There was nothing in any direction, nothing but the same blackness lit up by the same water.

"Hello?!" Nova called out, her voice echoing through the void. She looked around, not sure what to look for. It was then she saw it, a man in the distance. She squinted, not sure who she saw at first. But, after a moment, she recognized him: a man who had become legend, a man whose tale had been taught to every SGC recruit.

"General Hammond!" Nova called out, running toward the man. She knew he wasn't real. The real General Hammond passed years ago. Still, he was the only thing here. The glass-like thunks of her footsteps echoed through the watery plain. The bald man turned around and began walking away. She was running and Hammond was just walking. But, no matter how fast she ran, she could not seem to catch up.

Finally, she gave up. She came to a stop, watching as Hammond continued walking away.

This was Furling telepathy. She was sure of it. But why? They hadn't contacted the Furlings for a while now.

The world around her began to fade to white, the glow of the water filling her vision until she couldn't see anything.

Her eyes fluttered open, jolting awake in her bed.

Correction. Not her bed. Her bunk. She was still on the Typhon for its long voyage home. She tilted her head sideways, looking out at the room. She could see Hailey and Osborn sleeping in bunks across from her and Arcturus was sleeping on the one above. The FF-305's were smaller than the 304's so they didn't have individual bedrooms like the 304's did. They had bunk rooms, mattresses and blankets stuffed into slots in the wall with curtains that could be pulled over, four per room.

Nova slowly slid out of the bunk, reaching up and stretching her arms. She was glad her kick didn't wake up Arcturus. Then again, she heard from Martin that Arcturus was an extremely light sleeper so it was possible she was awoken.

Nova didn't intend to walk through the ship in her sports bra so she quickly put on her black shirt before making her way to the door. She glanced back at the bunks in the wall. It was a well-furnished room, even containing a dresser, a closet, and even a desk and chair. The only source of light came from the nightlight on the dresser. Whoever came up with the idea of putting a nightlight in the sleeping quarters was beyond her but at least it let her see.

She carefully slid open the door only a crack so it wouldn't flood the room with light. She squeezed through the partially opened door before closing it behind her.

It was the ship's night cycle so the crew were all in their bunks. Lights all across the ship were dimmed, though it lacked the eerie glow it had when in battle mode.

Nova found herself wandering aimlessly through the halls of the Typhon. Correction. She found herself walking in circles. The 305 wasn't as big as the 304's so she ended up walking down the same halls and corridors. Desperate for some new location to look at, she decided to make her way down to the cargo hold. It was still stocked with new supplies from Earth so there wasn't much room. But as she made her way past the boxes, she spotted a familiar face.

"Soren," she called out. The fierri looked up at her at the sound of his name.

"Major Nova," he said in his usual unamused tone. "I'm surprised to see you up at this hour."

"Back at ya," Nova replied. "It's still gonna be a while before we reach Millennium so you should rest while you have the chance."

"They have not yet finished restoring the hyperspace program?"

"Not yet. Hailey recommends they do short hyperspace jumps to avoid any glitches in the program until she and Athena can get it working again. General Mercer's given us permission to relax until we get back to Millennium."

"I see. Why are you awake then?"

Nova just shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep," she replied. She shrugged again. "Just needed a change of scenery."

Soren grunted in acknowledgement. Nova looked at the man awkwardly. She heard Soren was not much of a talker but she never realized what they meant.

"So…" she said with a big smile, desperately trying to come up with something to talk about. Soren gave her an unamused stare. "Well, how's the expedition been treating you?"

"My treatment has been reasonable," he said.

"Reasonable? Not 'ok' or 'fun' or…I don't know."

Soren gave another grunt. Nova didn't imagine making small talk with this guy would be this hard. That's when a thought finally occurred to her.

"Steven's not giving you trouble, is he?" she asked.

"Doctor Chen has been courteous," Soren replied. But Nova could see through his statement. She gave an annoyed sigh, brushing back her long dark brownish auburn hair.

"Alright, I'll go talk to him," she said.

"Major Nova," Soren said before she could move. "I assure you that is unnecessary. Doctor Chen is not wrong for his resentment toward me."

"You're part of this expedition now. He should let the past be in the past, not be obsessed over what you once did."

"Professor Nevec may have something to say about that," Soren replied. He gave a sigh, though it sounded more like a snarl. "You do not need to do anything. Doctor Chen simply has a strong sense of justice."

Nova gave a reluctant nod. Even if she couldn't convince Steven Chen to like Soren, she could at least try to get a better understanding of why.

"Well," she said, leaning back against a box. "I guess I'll stay up if you're staying up."

"Go to sleep, Nova," Soren said, walking away. Nova watched as the fierri vanished behind the boxes. So much for making conversation. If Nova knew one thing, it's that if Soren didn't want to be found, you weren't going to find him.

She looked around, half tempted to go through the crates to see what new equipment the SGC brought. But, she knew Soren was right. She should go to sleep.

With nothing else to do, she finally turned around and headed back to her bunk.

STARGATE MILLENNIUM

"If you could pay a thousand dollars and part of your chest becomes a toaster oven, like a little gap where you could put food, would you buy it?"

"Uhh…would this affect me?"

"Hypothetically speaking, so no. Nothing changes about your life. You can do your normal stuff, but you have a spot in your chest to toast stuff."

"Do you I have to clean it?"

"No."

This was the banter between Flight Lieutenant Charles James Martin and Major Jennifer Elizabeth Hailey. They were down in the cargo bay. The solid crates of various sizes made perfect tables and chairs. Corin was not far away, busy reading a book, and Arcturus was in the corner meditating while Hailey and Martin conversed. That was, until Nova came in.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" she exclaimed, having only heard half the conversation. Immediately, Corin, Charles, and Jennifer broke into laughter. Nova glanced at Arcturus, who was sitting on her knees, her eyes closed and her face serene.

"Hey, Terra," Corin greeted as she took a seat.

"Is this that stupid game you and Dannick started?" Nova asked, taking a seat beside Corin.

"It's not stupid. It's just something we do for kicks and giggles."

"Well, why would he spend money to buy a toaster when there are toasters in the mess halls on Millennium?" Corin asked.

"I meant if we were still back on Earth." She didn't know the conversion between the US and Australian dollar but she couldn't imagine it would be that much.

"Here's a question, how the bloody hell do you turn it on?" Martin asked. "Where's the "on" button?"

"Why does it matter?" Hailey asked with a shrug.

"Hell yeah, it matters," Nova said. "Imagine if you're with your boyfriend and he tries putting his hand on your chest and gets burned cuz you accidentally turned it on."

"Yeah, leave it to the Major to make it weird," Martin exclaimed.

"How's that weird?!" Nova called out defensively.

"I think your boyfriend would be safe considering the size of your bust would completely cover it."

"Might even be more dangerous to you," Corin added.

"Oh no, ma knockers are burning!" Charles mocked in a high pitched voice.

"What happens if you wake up in the middle of the night because your blankets are on fire because you accidentally turned your toaster on while you were sleeping."

"No, it'll only turn on if you will it to," Hailey clarified. "No heat, no fires, nothing. Just pretend it's like the Tardis. It won't affect your life. Would you do it?" Martin put his hand to his chin in thought.

"Really?" Nova questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you want to have a toaster in your chest?"

"Probably so I wouldn't have the inconvenience of buying a toaster," Martin said. Immediately the room erupted in response. Hailey could even see a smile spread across the meditating Samanya Arcturus's face at the banter.

"You think it's that inconvenient to buy a toaster?" Nova exclaimed.

"How many toasters do you go through?" Corin called out.

"I don't know," Charles Martin said with a shrug. "I've actually never bought a toaster." This statement did not surprise Hailey. Martin did come from a really wealthy family.

"It's not about-" Hailey began to say when Corin cut her off.

"So clearly you have no inconvenience!" he cried out. "You have not been inconvenienced by buying a toaster!"

"Look, I've never bought a toaster but I do have one," Martin clarified. "My parents bought it for me."

"So Why Would You Spend A Thousand Dollars?!" Chen's voice suddenly called out from the hall. Hailey could only assume he was walking by when he heard the conversation and decided to chime in.

"Because at some point, Steven, I would've had to buy a toaster!" Martin called back.

"It's Not Going To Cost A Thousand Dollars!"

"Steven, stop shouting!" Nova ordered. "If you want to talk, then get in here like a normal person."

Chen's grumbling could be heard as he walked in.

"God, you people are loud," he groaned.

"What, were you snogging Doc out in the hall?" Martin remarked with a mischievous grin.

Chen immediately shot Martin an unappreciative glare.

"One, we broke up back in college, jackass" he said stiffly. "Two, she's in the med-bay looking over notes about the vortrix."

Nova shuddered at the mention of them.

"You're really that scared of those things?" Corin asked.

"Those things don't just eat you," Nova pointed out. "They absorb you." Nova shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, I'll concede that," Chen said. "I talked to Kara about vortrices. Getting killed by them is not a good way to go."

"Yeah, but-" Hailey had begun to say when voices out in the hallway caught their attention. Someone, or rather a pair of someones, was approaching the doorway. Right outside the door, Hailey could hear one of the two people say "catch you around" before a set of footsteps vanished into the distance.

The person outside the hangar finally entered.

And Hailey's eyes widened in surprise.

"Grogan!" she called out. Hailey leapt off her box and skipped around everyone around her. It seemed Carl Grogan was equally surprised by Hailey's presence.

Hailey practically leapt into Grogan's arms as they embraced each other.

"Hailey," he said. "Long time. I didn't know you were with the team."

"Yeah, I was invited to come."

Nova cleared her throat, catching Hailey's attention.

"Oh, guys," Hailey said, remembering her friends were there. "This is Carl Grogan. SG-1 brought me in to train him a few years back."

"So this is your team?" Grogan asked. "So this would be the Dusk Riders?"

"Uh…no," Nova said. "We're Wolf Pack."

"Ah, Wolf Pack," he corrected, stuttering a little at the name. "She's told me a lot about you guys."

"And when you say 'a lot'," Chen remarked. "You mean she hasn't told you crap."

Grogan opened his mouth to speak, but Hailey could tell he didn't know what to say.

"Wait a minute," Martin said. "Did you say 'Grogan'? I think I heard of you before."

"Really?" Grogan asked, clearly excited that his name was getting around.

"Yeah. You're the bloke who always gets shot."

And just as quickly as it appeared, Grogan's excitement disappeared. Hailey snickered, trying to hold back her laughter. She remembered Carl's reputation even in training.

"Listen…" he said, holding his finger out as if to give a lecture. But he paused.

"I'm listening?" Martin said when Grogan didn't say anything.

"Alright, Charles," Corin spoke up, clearly enjoying himself.

"Anyways," Grogan said, trying to change the topic. "The Captain says we're approaching Millennium and wants to see if any of you are interested in seeing the view."

The room broke out into agreement at the prospect of seeing their arrival at Millennium.

"C'mon, Sam" Martin called. The blonde warrior gave a smile as she stood up and followed everyone out.

"Hey, Hailey," Grogan said. "When we touch down, you wanna catch up?"

Hailey was about to say yes. Grogan was a friend. The last time she saw him was when the Furlings helped them gate to Earth. But as she opened her mouth, a familiar face flashed before her eyes.

"We'll see," she stuttered. "I think I still have a report to finish."

Just as the words left her mouth, she suddenly could not help but question them. Maybe she should reconsider.

"Anyways," she said. "Wanna see the landing?"

-.-

Chen could sense Nova's discomfort even before they made it to the bridge. She was clearly trying to hide it but he could tell her mind was still on the virus that infected Typhon.

"Terra," he hissed as they made it to the bridge. Nova snapped out of her trance, glancing at him to see what he wanted.

"I'm fine," she said dismissively.

Chen could say nothing but 'hmm' at that response. If Nova wanted to stay silent, there was nothing he could do. He could only hope she wasn't planning on doing something without informing them.

Chen looked around as they stepped on the domed bridge, all the technicians working at their stations. Even Athena was working at one.

Chen glared at Athena suspiciously. He didn't care if the SGC trusted her. He didn't. And even if she did have a change of heart, there was far more that she had to answer for.

Athena noticed his glare and simply smirked. It was just a look but Chen could feel himself boiling over. It was the type of smirk as if to scoff at his frustration since she knew there was nothing he could do.

Chen just grumbled and look forward. They were approaching Millennium. The least he could do is appreciate the sight.

The bridge was in the center of the Typhon so there were no view ports. Instead, they looked upon an array of screens. One by one they all came on until the front wall was filled with a large image of the space in front of them.

This was the first time any of them had arrived at Millennium onboard a starship so this was the first time any of them saw the outside of the nebula.

"Blimey," Kara said as she arrived at the bridge. Chen knew Nebulas didn't glow. But the nebula Millennium was in was artificially made with the purpose of glowing and providing light for the station within.

If heaven existed, this is what it would look like. The nebula looked like glowing clouds. Millennium was a city floating atop golden glowing clouds. And watching the clouds grow before consuming them, it felt like they were going through the golden gates.

The screens were filled by the golden vapor, the ship rattling from the turbulence.

"Is it always this rocky?" Captain Connors asked.

"We've never flown through the nebula before," Hailey explained. "The turbulence is from the subspace field that is uses to destabilize hyperspace windows."

"She means that the nebula won't let hyperspace windows open inside of it," Chen translated. "Apparently it doesn't like being flown through either."

"Damage report?" Connors ordered.

"Negligible damage," Athena reported.

"Captain," a helmsman reported. "We're clearing the nebula."

Everyone's eyes were locked at the front to the ship. The golden mist that filled their screens soon parted. And there it was: the city in the golden clouds.

It was strange looking at Millennium from the outside. From a distance, it almost looked like a blooming silver four-petal flower, cities on each of the petal as well as the center.

"Open a channel," Connors ordered. A helmsman pressed a button before nodding to the officer. "Millennium. This is Captain Connors of the Typhon requesting permission to dock."

Chen held his breath. Knowing his luck, there was probably some crazy alien incursion taking place. But, he let out a quiet sigh of relief when he heard Donovan's voice.

"Typhon, you have permission to dock. You will be landing in the Grand Plaza. Sending coordinates."

Connor looked at Athena, who gave a returning nod.

"Copy that, Millennium," Connors said. "We will be touching down soon."

-.-

When Typhon touched down, the entire plaza was soon bustling with activity. The Grand Plaza was essentially a massive park that was identical to any park found on a planet. There were a few patches of grass neatly arranged around the plaza all circling a massive obelisk at its center. The thing was, the plaza was on the 'underside' of central city. Atlantis was built on a single plane since it was intended to spend time on planets, affected by gravity pulling in a single direction. But Millennium was built to stay in space. That meant crazier geometries, such as building a park on what would be the underside of a city.

Without the endless horizon of golden buildings, there was more than enough room for Typhon to land.

As the ramp lowered, Nova was greeted by what looked like a crowd of people. Doctors, scientists, soldiers, they were all eager to welcome the ship. This was their first contact with Earth since they were given a chance to visit it.

"Alright," a voice boomed across the plaza. Everyone looked behind them, Mercer standing at the back of the crowd. "There will be enough time to catch up later. For now, I need maintenance crews to unload and catalogue all the supplies."

The way he spoke…

Mercer was like a grandfather to the entire expedition. He rarely ever got angry. He was always smiling.

But Nova knew the truth. And seeing that strange dichotomy now churned her stomach. It was eerie how well this killing machine could pass himself off like an everyday person.

She couldn't let this bother her. She had task to do.

Still, while Mercer walked up to talk to Captain Connors, the old man's glance at her sent chills down her spine. It was almost like he knew she was looking at him.

-.-

Hailey gaped for a moment, not sure what to say. Was there anything to say?

No. There was one exclamation that would be appropriate for this.

"What the hell?!"

Hailey was in the infirmary, staring at two of the hospital beds being occupied by Umar and Dannick, McFree standing in the corner with his arm in a sling. When she left for Typhon, only Umar was in the infirmary. Now her whole team was.

"Surprise," Umar remarked, with a dramatic wave of his hands.

"Just…how?"

Hailey's hand was practically floating in front of her face as she tried to stop herself from facepalming.

"They didn't tell you about this when you came back?" Dannick asked.

"Killer interdimensional cyborg?" Hailey exclaimed. "Do we even live in a sane universe anymore?"

The three remaining members of the Dusk Riders exchanged glances before sharing a single answer.

"No."

"It stopped being sane when we started traversing to other galaxies through portals of water," Umar said. "Look on the bright side, Major. You are permitted take time for yourself until we're out."

-.-

Nova knew Chen told her not to do anything stupid, but she didn't have a choice. She had to know. It had been an entire day since they got back to Millennium. Charles needed an extra day's rest and everyone else was given the day off. But Nova couldn't take the day off. She had something to do.

Usually she would only go to General Mercer's office when summoned.

Not this time.

She pressed the button and the doors slid open, letting her step inside. The moment she was in, she pressed the button and the door closed behind her.

Her heart was in her throat. Every muscle was stiff as stone. This was a bad idea. But it was the only thing she could think off.

General Mercer was hard at work, writing something down. The circular office had a small window that gave him a clear view of the gate room. Nova walked over to that window, reached over, and slowly pulled the curtains shut.

"Major," Mercer said. "May I ask what you're doing."

Nova looked at Mercer. It was only now that he stopped writing. He gave a pause before setting down his pen and looking up, folding his hands in front of him on his desk.

She had made it this far. She might as well follow through.

There was a click as Nova reached into her back pocket and drew out a nine-millimeter, aiming it at the General.

"General," Nova said in a shaky voice. "I think you have explaining to do."

Mercer stared at Nova. It was chilling just how calm the old man was even when there was a gun pointed at his face. The General slowly rose from his chair, more annoyed than anything else.

"Stay back!" Nova ordered. "I'm not underestimating what you can do. You can't disarm me at that distance." Mercer obeyed and remained behind his desk.

"True," he said calmly. "I can't disarm you at that distance. And it is wise for you to not underestimate my abilities. But perhaps you are underestimating my authority."

Nova stared at Mercer in confusion. She looked at his eyes, trying to figure out what the old man was thinking. Then, they twitched. No. Twitch was the wrong word. They had been looking right at her. Then they moved to look at something behind her.

"Kill her," Mercer ordered. Panic flooded Nova's body. She knew Tok'ra assassins were probably watching Am-heh and Mercer but she didn't think they'd obey him like that.

She whipped around, raising her pistol and aiming it at the thing behind her.

But there was one problem.

There was nothing there.

"Shit," she muttered. She had been tricked. She whipped back around but it was too late. It was barely a second. But a second was all Mercer needed. She could see the gleam of a sword blade raised to her throat. He had gone over the desk and closed the distance. She didn't even manage to aim the pistol, her gun aimed awkwardly at the wall.

They stood there for a moment, not sure what she should do.

"If you kill me, I think I can still get off a few rounds," Nova said, trying to think of some trump card she could hold. "Everyone in the control room will hear the gunshots."

"Then what?" Mercer asked. "You are in my office with a gun. I need only tell them that you came into my office and tried to shoot me."

Nova's eyes widened in fear. She really had no edge, no advantage to hold against this man.

"Wolf Pack," she said. "They know I came here. They'll know the truth."

Nova could feel Mercer's eyes examining her, taking in every detail of her expression.

"No, they don't," the old man said. "Major Nova, if they did know what you were doing, you should not have told me as it only lets me know to silence them as soon as possible. They would have told you this. In fact, they would discourage you from coming into my office with a gun to threaten me." Nova could not help but let out a scared whimper at just how easily he read her.

"Poor, poor, Terra Nova," Mercer mocked. No, not Mercer; Am-heh mocked. She knew a Goa'uld could deepen the voice of their host, but she has never heard a voice slowly transition like that, each word getting deeper and more distorted until becoming the Goa'uld voice. Regardless, it was Am-heh's demonic voice that was coming through now. "Despite your insecurities, you are actually a good leader so long as you have feedback to fall upon. But without it, you are a child that fails to think through their actions."

Nova felt the blade pressed harder against her neck. Suddenly, it lowered. Nova eased up slightly, looking up, not sure what this meant. Her relief was short lived. Am-heh raised his left hand, a triangular ring glowing like a flame was it was raised in front of her face. And just like that, her world went to black.

-.-

Color slowly seeped into the blackness. Slowly, reality came fading back. She let out a groan. Her mind was a fog. It felt like she had fallen asleep or something.

Looking around, she expected for her to be restrained or something. But she wasn't. She was sitting in the middle of a lavish hall, floating chandeliers above her, white marble-like material making up the walls and columns, a red carpet running down the floor.

She was in a pocket dimension that held the governor's mansion that Mercer could access through a hidden door in the back of his office. Nova remembered Mercer showing this to her once.

She was sitting in a very comfortable chair. It looked like it was made of dark wood with red cushions padding the seat and backrest.

She looked at the table in front of her. Her pistol was laying on it.

Nova didn't dare try to take the gun. Instead, she looked around. Mercer was on the other side of the table. An array of screens created an illusion of an outside world with a lavish garden. Mercer stared at those screens, his back to Nova.

Terra Nova considered trying to take the pistol. It was only the two of them. And, from the looks of it, he had nothing but a sword to defend himself with. He was that confident he could take her on.

And the thing was, she believed he could.

"Why am I here?" Nova asked. There was no point in fighting so she might as well try talking.

"Because you won't learn your lesson if you're dead, soldier," Mercer answered, his voice back to normal. He didn't turn around but held out a stack of papers to the side for her to see. "So, I guess I should assume that your mission report was not entirely accurate?"

Nova didn't answer. She didn't know what to answer at this point. She didn't know what was going to happen to her. Was this end of her career? Forget that. Was this the end of her life?

"Perhaps I should be clearer," Mercer said, finally turning around and gently placing the papers on the table. "You would not have felt the need to come and threaten me in my office unless you had a reason. Your report says you did not now the origin of the virus. This is the lie. You know the origin of the virus, and you have come to me for answers. Am I close to the truth?"

Close? Nova had to scoff at that word. He was spot on. Still, she could not say anything. She was being read like an open book. She was afraid what anything she said would reveal.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Mercer leaned forward across the table, leaned until his mouth was right next to her ear.

"Would you like to know the truth?" he asked.

Nova could not help but gasp at this question. He had to be mocking her. No way he would tell her the truth. She looked at Mercer as he took a step back.

"You're lying," she said. "Why should I believe you? When I first came here, you told me the Millennium Expedition was just a social experiment."

"I don't recall lying," Mercer said calmly. "I told you the truth. The Millennium Expedition is a social experiment conducted to form a team with the capabilities of SG-1. You are the one who took this as the entire truth."

"Then what is the entire truth?"

Mercer smiled at this question. He raised his arm and pointed behind her. Nova had been scared stiff. She hadn't even turned around since waking up. Doing it now, she saw a door behind her. She slowly rose to her feet and hobbled over to the door. She paused, still hesitant to open it. She glanced behind her, watching Mercer walk around the table to join her. He gave a nodded, giving her permission to open it. She took a breath as she turned the nob on the giant dark wood door. She slowly pushed it inward.

She didn't know what she was expecting but this wasn't it. Her eyes fell upon a long table, dozens of people seated around it. Her eyes first fell upon the people in suits. She didn't recognize most of their faces but she did recognize a few people, people who belonged to the IOA. The next thing her eyes fell upon were the people not in suits. They were in a different uniform, a uniform worn by the Tok'ra.

"This, Major Nova, is the entire truth."

-.-

Nova stepped into the room as Mercer closed the door behind him, not sure what to think. There was no doubt about it now. It was a Tok'ra virus.

"How…" she stuttered. "Why?"

Finally, one of the IOA members spoke.

"Major Nova," he said. "Look, you don't understand-"

"You're damn right I don't!" She scoffed at the sight. "Look at you! The SGC's saved the planet how many times? And you react by forming this! What is this?!" Then she looked at the Tok'ra seated at the table. "Then you!" she exclaimed. "Earth's worked side by side with the Tok'ra against the Goa'uld, the replicators, and the Ori! We were supposed to be allies! How could you?!"

"Major Nova," a Tok'ra interrupted. "You are correct, the Tau'ri have proven themselves invaluable allies and we have fought many battles together. But the Tau'ri have also gathered an assortment of some of the universe's most advanced technology. Even before this technology, they have shown both ignorance and lack of responsibility."

"You've been saying this from the beginning and we still kicked the collective asses of the Goa'uld. Hell, the Tok'ra have been going on about how Earth isn't ready. What will it take to prove we're ready?"

"Major Nova," another IOA member said calmly. "Regardless of the SGCs history, you must question the wisdom of collecting so many powerful pieces of technology under one umbrella with minimal oversight."

"Minimal oversight?" Nova repeated. "Remind me, what does the O stand for again?" Nova knew that there was no profession in her tone. If actually reminded her of her snobby younger self. If Mercer wasn't so forgiving, she could be tried for insubordination for her level of disrespect. But she didn't care. She didn't know what to think about what was unfolding before her. The SGC and everyone involved were heroes and here were a bunch of ungrateful asses pouting about them not having enough control.

"When was the last time the SGC ever submitted to the whims of the IOA?"

"We'd listen if you weren't a bunch of ignorant bureaucrats fighting for power!"

"Enough," Mercer said calmly. He didn't yell, there wasn't even a hint of anger in his voice. It was loud enough to be heard by everyone, but it wasn't a thunderous order. Yet, it split the air like an axe. Immediately, the room silenced upon his command. No one spoke up for several minutes. Finally, one of the Tok'ra broke the silence.

"Major," he said. "Tell me, how many ha'tak can a single 304 can destroy?"

Nova paused, confused about the question. Finally, she understood.

"So that's what it is?" she asked in even more disbelief than before. "You're afraid of us? Why?"

"We've made why perfectly clear. The Goa'uld, the replicators, the Ori, the Wraith, your enemies fall before you like dominos despite all odds. And now you have inherited some of the most advanced technology in the universe. If Earth ever misuses its newfound gifts, we will likely fall just as easily. Perhaps the Ror'char should be counting their blessings that the Tau'ri cannot commit enough resources to this galaxy."

"But we haven't done anything that would warrant that fear from the Tok'ra."

"If you ever did, we would not be here discussing it. And it isn't just the Tok'ra. Many feel the same."

Those words echoed in Terra's mind. She was so stunned she could barely form a sentence.

"What? How many other races are involved in this?" The silence around the table was all she needed. "You're kidding…"

"Major," a Tok'ra member said, but Nova wasn't interested in listening.

"No! Earth saved Milky Way! More than a couple times too! And now you're telling me all our alien allies fear us for that?"

"Major Nova, your government and its leaders are based on a cycle of election. What is to say that your next leader won't be malevolent? Or one of your leaders in the future? Humans live very short lives after all." Nova knew what he was saying but she didn't believe him. How could she? The very organization that saved the galaxy was now the target of their former allies.

"Everything we've done is purely a precautionary measure. No hostile actions were taken against the Tau'ri," a third Tok'ra from the back of the room said.

"Really? What do you call the virus then?"

"That was a preemptive measure. It was not intended to be activated unless the Tau'ri took hostile action. Clearly, there was an error in the program. And it was made to disable the ship, not destroy it."

Nova looked around. She didn't know what to say. She was so stunned she didn't even know if she could form a sentence.

"What about you?" she asked, looking at the men and women in suits. She couldn't wrap her head around why the IOA of all organizations would hinder Earth.

"Major Nova," a bald member spoke up. "Our alien allies have a fear of Earth. But if you get down to it, what they fear is the SGC. It is the SGC that is responsible for most of Earth's actions in the galaxy. It is the SGC that possesses all the alien tech. It's the SGC that commands most of the 304's."

"Even if the SGC doesn't go rogue, an organization that powerful still needs oversight," another IOA man said. "All we're doing is making sure someone else held accountable for what happens."

"Or get in the way of the SGC actually getting its job done, like you always do," Nova snapped. "Didn't you cut ties with Woolsey because he stopped listening to you guys?"

"Major, we admit our reputation is tarnished but that does not remove the need for oversight. The very foundation of the US government is based on checks and balances, the belief that no one body holds absolute power. Well who balances the SGC? We assure you we will reform our operations but this is necessary."

"How is this necessary? You have oversight."

"Oversight is useless if you can't enforce it. The moment we pull SGC funding you can threaten to blow us all from orbit and there's not a thing we can do about it."

"The same can be said about your hyperspace missiles," Ver'rak added. "Should we stand in the way of something, you can threaten our destruction." Nova looked at him in confusion. She looked around, partially expecting an explanation. But, it seemed like the IOA were just as confused as she was.

No.

They looked less confused and more alarmed.

"We'll talk about that later," Harrow said. "For now…" They all turned their attention back to Nova.

Nova looked around. Every person who has worked in the SGC was a hero, and now these suited bureaucrats were trying to find a way to control them from their cushy little chairs without ever seeing what was out there.

Finally, her eyes fell upon Mercer, the one man who seemed to bridge the gap, SGC and yet working with the IOA.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Nova asked in exasperation. "I've kept your secret, followed your orders in spite of it."

"I'm just wondering," Mercer said, his eyes closed as if he was deep in thought. "You're confident that the SGC and Earth doesn't need these precautions. I wonder if the Quinterans ever felt the same."

And just like that, Nova's confidence left her body. She could see Nyrah Krampus's face in the back of her mind. Her run in with Krampus and the Quinterans was the closest she ever came to losing the people she cared about.

She didn't know how long she was staring at the table. Finally, she realized the conversation had died.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"We are seeking allies," an IOA member explained. "The SGC has done good work. But we need to provide oversight. And we need ways of enforcing that oversight."

Nova hung her head. This had to all still be nonsense. Nothing but power hungry politicians, right?

The memory of Krampus coming so close to killing her friends flashed in her mind again.

"Major," Mercer spoke up. "You've been through a lot. I wish for you to think about our offer. You are now dismissed."

Nova walked to the door, still trying to process what was happening.

"General," she spoke up, pausing at the door. "I have one question. What would I be doing if I agreed to this?"

One of the IOA members opened their mouth to speak, but Mercer immediately put up a hand to quiet him.

"We would simply ask you to help us carry out a few missions, even keep an eye on key individuals and report to us. Nothing more. And nothing immoral."

Nova didn't like how cryptic Mercer was being.

"And if I was to refuse your offer?"

"Major," Mercer said irritably. "I believe I agreed to one question."

Nova gave a sigh. She got the truth at least. Then why did it feel like her mission just ended in failure?

There was a click as she closed the door behind her.

-.-

There was a sense of unity and cohesion while Nova was in the room. But with her gone, the room descended into bickering and chaos.

"I assure you, Mister Harrow, the virus was nothing more than a preemptive measure."

"Can I ask how many ships you decided to put viruses on?"

"We have been placing these viruses on all but three. The Daedalus and Odyssey were constructed before we were able to plant the virus, and we chose to not plant one on the George Hammond out of respect."

"We formed this coalition for the sake of oversight but the virus is too much!"

"Too much? The Tau'ri possess some of the most advanced technology in the universe. A single Horizon weapon can wipe out half a planet."

"I do not understand what the issue is," another Tok'ra said. "From what I understand, you had intended on planting identical viruses in your fleet for similar reasons. You feared an alien incursion will cause the crew to become dangerous and wished for a failsafe."

"Yes, but we would be the ones controlling the virus," a man at the front said.

"Ver'ack," another IOA member. "Are there any other preemptive measures we should know about?"

Ver'ack fell silent for a moment as if to contemplate the answer.

"None," he finally said. "The virus was the only action taken."

"You'll pardon me if we're skeptical," the first IOA member said. "The Tok'ra have established a legacy of secrecy."

"Secrecy?" Ver'ack scoffed. "What of the Tau'ri? May I ask when you intended to tell us about your hyperspace missile program?"

"How did you know about the hyperspace missile program?"

"That is not an issue."

"Oh, I would disagree."

"Ver'ack, Harrow," Mercer said. Immediately, the two stopped arguing. In fact, the whole room calmed down again, everyone sitting down and straightening their uniforms. "We will deal with the situation another time. For now, we have other matters to discuss. How was the virus activated?"

Another Tok'ra stood up, a beautiful young blonde with medium length but straight hair.

"Because the Tau'ri have begun hybridizing their computers with Asgard technology, I modified our existing virus so it would be compatible with the new system," she explained. "The Typhon has more Asgard technology integrated into it than any 304. I believe it is possible the new system caused the issue."

"How can the hybrid systems trigger the virus?" an IOA member asked.

"The viruses that were implanted can only be activated with three 128-bit signals input in a very specific order. If the sequence is not properly triggered in five consecutive attempts, the virus deletes itself. This was to prevent outside influences from starting up the virus themselves."

"It is as we said," a male Tok'ra next to the woman spoke up. "These viruses were made to be preemptive measures. We took extra precautions to ensure they are not triggered inadvertently."

"It is possible that the program that would identify the signals was not properly integrated into the Asgard systems," the female Tok'ra continued explaining. "As a result, an outside signal was misinterpreted as the trigger signal."

"Is it possible that a Tok'ra secretly activated the virus?" an IOA man across the room asked.

"You accuse one of our own of treachery?" another Tok'ra exclaimed, offended by this. Ver'ack immediately silenced him with a hand wave.

"We will investigate the possibility of the virus being activated remotely," he said. "However, I can assure you that its activation was not an order from the Tok'ra Council."

"We can confirm that this is an isolated event," another IOA member said. "We have used the communication stones to get in touch with Earth. None of the other ships have encountered any problem."

"What have the crew of the Typhon been told?" Ver'ack asked.

"They have not been told anything so far. If we put out a cover up story now, it will seem suspicious. For now, we're saying we're investigating the origin of the virus."

"What about Athena?" Ver'ack asked.

"Leave her to me," Mercer said, his eyes flashing as Am-heh took control.

"Right…" Harrow said slowly, clearly disturbed by the Goa'uld. "Speaking of you, what were you thinking bringing in Nova like that?"

"We can use Nova, and I believe she would be the easiest to sway to our cause," Am-heh said. "All SGC, Atlantis, and Millennium personnel undergo regular psychological evaluation. Her profile indicates a strong desire to do the right thing, but a lack of decisiveness as well as self-doubt. We can use this."

"You'll forgive me if I doubt your motivations," Ver'ack said.

"And you always will," Am-heh replied. "You will always doubt my intentions, you cannot question my results. Now if you don't mind, I have an announcement to make to the expedition.

-.-

Nova shifted uncomfortably. Just a few hours ago, she discovered the truth about the Millennium Expedition. And now she and the other department heads were called in for a meeting as if nothing had happened. They had all gathered in the conference room, some sitting around the U-shaped table but most standing. She could see Chen, Hailey, Osborn, and Umar in the crowd.

Nova could not help but wonder if Mercer got to Chen too.

Unlikely.

She didn't even know why Mercer would tell her all this to begin with. Still, she knew that telling everyone was the worst way to keep a secret.

It was then Nova noticed something else. She could see Arcturus and Soren in the crowd as well. She even recognized the two Eloran pilots they got a while back. Even Corin was here. All the aliens that had joined their expedition were here too. But why?

The room fell silent as the doors to Mercer's office opened. The old man stepped out, his arms folded behind his back, a warm smile on his face.

"Well, it seems that everyone is here," he said. He fell silent for a bit, organizing a stack of folders in front of him. Finally, he cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced. "As you all are aware, the FF-305 Typhon has recently arrived at Millennium. With the arrival of the ship, we will now proceed to the second phase of the Expedition. For too long, our expeditionary force has been labeled a piracy due to a lack of affiliation to any official government. However, we could not make a move to reject this without making enemies. With the security brought by the Typhon, we will now declare ourselves to the galaxy as an independent nation."

Nova looked at Mercer in surprise. This was certainly not what she expected. Even in the Pegasus galaxy, Atlantis was just recognized as Atlantis. It wasn't seen as a nation of any sort. Granted, the wraith had destroyed any semblance of advanced civilization, but it still seemed strange to her that they were calling themselves a nation.

"General," a woman across the room said. "What exactly would this mean?"

"So far, Millennium and the people residing in it have been seen as its own entity. We were labeled pirates due to a lack of attachment to any government or nation. However, I believe it is time we change this label." Mercer turned to look at Corin. "Professor Nevec, I would like to work you to see what can be done to officially change our standing in this galaxy. I believe it is also time we made contact with the different nations this galaxy has to offer. Sir Arcturus, Mister Stavig, you two will be assigned as personal bodyguards to myself or any ambassadors we send to make contact."

"Understood," Arcturus replied. Soren didn't really answer, just giving a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Helmsman Níoh," Mercer continued. One of the Eloran pilots stepped forward. "We will likely be coming across races the Elorans have encountered in the past. You and your co-pilot will help establish relations with these races. Speaking of which, Níoh, Torador, Nevec, are there any races or nations you advise we try to begin relations with?"

"Gundara is a small nation state we've encountered before," Níoh said. "They have a bit of a pirate problem, but I think it's a good first start."

"Nyganda Huran might also work," Corin spoke up. "It's the icthyan home planet. They're usually open to alliances. Though, interacting with them might be a problem."

"Why's that?" a nearby man asked.

"The icthyan's spend most of their lives in the water. So, about 80 percent of their civilization is underwater. The Atria is where the leaders of their largest kingdoms meet and that's in the middle of an ocean. Also, they can pronounce our language, but we can't pronounce theirs, especially underwater."

"We will resolve that at another time," Mercer said. "What of the Damacans?"

"General," Arcturus spoke up. "The Damacans hold the potential of being powerful allies, however they are extremely paranoid of outsiders. They also have quite a few enemies."

"Then we will deal with them another time," Mercer concluded. "The two nations you have listed will suffice for now. Ladies and gentlemen, for now I want you to focus on maximizing the output of your respective departments. We have much to accomplish."

-.-

Nova still had a few hours before she was back on duty. Then she would have to help prepare to try to establish relations with other civilizations. But that left her with time to herself. And the first place she went to was the Sanctum.

This was supposed to be a meeting place for all four races. More than that, Nova remembered the Furlings were using Millennium to keep an eye on the expedition.

"You said you'd keep an eye on us!" she yelled into the nothing. "The least you could do is give me a little help."

Nova remembered when she first met the Furlings, they flat out told her the reason the Alliance did not interfere was because of the possibility of them going rogue. And she told the Furlings to give them a chance. She was so confident back then…so ignorant.

She looked at the pedestal in the center of the room, no longer sure what to believe. She wanted to organize her thoughts but she didn't even know where to begin with that.

The SGC and its personnel were heroes. O'Neill, Carter, they were all heroes. And the IOA had a long history of getting in their way.

The Quinterans were once heroes and look at what they were now.

There is no way the SGC would go down that route.

How could she say there was no way? Did she really forget what happened last time she was sure she was in the right?

"Damn it," she cursed her breath. "C'mon! How are we supposed to be the Fifth Race if we don't even know what to do?!"

She clenched her fists in frustration. She couldn't do this alone.

-.-

"Gah! Damn!"

Hailey shook her hand in pain. She had slipped up again and touched the exposed part of the wire.

Hailey looked at the domed-shape device. It was a bronze dome with four stubby 'legs' that held it slightly elevated.

Hailey has seen manipulation of kinetic energy twice now. The Goa'uld ribbon device shoved people away. The Makhai had something that pulled people in. Hailey now wanted to try her hand at making her own version.

But, she seemed to be forgetting every safety precaution possible.

Hailey rushed over to the sink in the corner of the lab, running water over her hands.

That was the third stupid mistake she made in a single hour. She had been rinsing her hands for a while before she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

Hailey whipped around, her hands still dripping with water.

"Geez, Isaac," she huffed, turning off the water. "I told you not to sneak up on me while I'm in the lab."

"I didn't…" he said. "I was singing from down the hall. You ever notice there is a lot of good reverberation there. We should gather a band or something. Hey, maybe you can be our groupie."

"I'll pass," Hailey said, heading back to the kinetic manipulator as Isaac let out a high-pitched opera cry and listened to it reverb through the lab. But he stopped as Hailey approached her machine.

"Uh…shouldn't you dry your hands before you work with the dangerous high voltage electronics?"

Hailey paused when she heard McFree say that, looking down at her dripping hands.

"Damn it," she muttered. She nearly made another mistake. She headed back to the sink and yanked out a strip of paper towel, wiping her hands.

When she turned back around, McFree was standing next to her work bench. But his goofy grin and child-like expression was gone. His face had softened.

"Is this about Grogan?" McFree asked.

"How do you know about that?" Hailey demanded. It was only after she asked she realized she may have come off a bit more hostile than she intended.

"Ran into the dude by the mess hall," McFree stated. "I'm surprised you two aren't catching up."

Hailey turned back toward her personal project.

"Couldn't," she said. "Too much work to do."

McFee glanced at the desk which contained her pet project. Not a project issued by Mercer, but something she was working on the side.

"Grogan reminds you of him, doesn't he," Isaac asked.

"Well, I did help train both of them," Hailey said. She figured there wasn't any reason to continue playing dumb. McFree walked up beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We all know you and Elliot had a thing," McFree said. "But you can't keep running away from this."

Hailey looked away, not entirely satisfied. Can't keep running? Watch her.

It was strange. She was fine when she confronted death. But hearing someone dear to her died unsettled her.

"Look, I can only stop being an overgrown child for so long so I'm just going to say it," McFree said. "When you get emotional you can get a bit…bitchy. But we don't see you any less in spite of it. If something bothers you, you can let us know. No one's gonna judge you."

Hailey paused, nodding her head. Elliot's face flashed through her head again. It still stung thinking about him.

"Anyways," McFree said, stepping back and dramatically stretching. "I have a Viking opera to put together. You do whatever you want."

With that, McFree skipped out the door.

Hailey looked at the project on her table. McFree was right. She couldn't keep running.

She walked over to the table, beginning to power down her machines. Maybe talking to Grogan will help her with Elliot. She picked up her tablet, ready to shut it down as well.

That's when she saw it.

"Message from Nova," Hailey read. "What does she want?"

-.-

Chen stepped into the tram station, looking out across the empty chamber. It was a vast room that seemed to stretch forever, columns scattered about, holding up the ceiling. There were benches near the back wall for citizens to wait for the tram, empty holo-cases lining the walls that once held advertisements. Between how large and empty it was and the dim lights that barely illuminated the room, the place felt dead. It was obvious that this was meant to be a place where hundreds of people would take the tram to cross from the central city to the city arms. Now, it was just left abandoned.

Chen stepped up to the chasm in the center of the room, the lane where the tram would the travel. He looked into either tunnel, what little light fading into an endless maw of black.

Chen stepped back. He knew that there was nothing lingering in those tunnels. The last thing he needed was to psyche himself out by imagining what they could have missed that was waiting in the endless maze in the black abyss.

There was a gentle hum as the tram came down the tracks, a line of vaguely egg-shaped silver cars. A cloud of sparkling blue powder seemed to warp around the train, distorting the air around it. As the tram slowed to a stop, the glowing particles faded away. The doors opened with a quiet hiss.

Chen stepped onboard, looking around to make sure he wasn't followed. The inside of the tram was much brighter, all the lights lining the ceiling illuminating the tram car.

The train let out a low hum as the doors closed. And in a flash, everything outside the window vanished into a blur as the tram took off down the tunnel.

There were chairs lining the sides but there were no bars or straps to hold onto. Trains on earth needed those so people standing wouldn't fall over. But the Alliance had inertial dampeners on their trams. They may have been traveling faster than a bullet, but Chen didn't feel a thing.

"Steve?"

Chen's hands flew up to his face, fists clenched and at the ready.

He relaxed when he noticed Corin sitting in a chair, waving at him.

"Jesus Christ, Corin," Chen heaved a sigh. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry," Corin chuckled. Chen walked to the back of the tram, plopping in a seat across from Corin. Chen took another moment to look around, making sure there weren't any other surprises on the tram.

"It's just me," Corin reassured. "Got on a few stations back."

"And here I thought you snuck in behind me," Chen snarked. "So, you know what Terra's calling us for?"

Corin just shrugged.

"Whatever it is, it must be bad if she wants us to meet outside the city…well, outside central city."

"It's the only part of the city we know for a fact isn't being monitored," Chen explained.

"About that, why couldn't we just use an ark?"

"There's a good chance the ark's are being monitored so they'll know if we ark outside of central city. Plus, Wong's team's running some tests on the tram system so there won't be anything out of the ordinary."

Corin gave an annoyed sigh and kicked back, putting his hands behind his head and leaning against the window.

"So, it's back, huh?" Corin remarked. "That conspiracy we found…it's bigger than we thought."

"What makes you say that?" Chen grunted. He knew Nova may not be the best secret keeper, but she probably didn't reveal the details to anyone. Still, he didn't know who he can tell or how much so, for the moment, he had to play ignorant.

"Let's see. We're meeting outside the central city, trying to avoid anyone following us, and worried that the arks are being monitored. And she was pretty jumpy on the Typhon."

"You think Terra's afraid what happened to the Typhon has something to do with the conspiracy?" Chen suggested.

"Well, either that or she thinks we have a spy."

Chen wanted to have a reply, but he didn't know what to say. Anything he did say could giveaway what he knew. So, he felt the best thing to do was to stay silent.

"We're here," he said, watching as the blur around the train slowed until the station came into view. The doors slid open and the two got out, Chen taking a moment to look around to make sure they were alone.

"She said to meet her in the food court," Corin recited, looking around. "So…this way…" he said, pointing down a glass tunnel. Chen didn't argue. He never got a good opportunity to explore Millennium's arms so he would probably get lost.

Chen followed Corin into the glass tunnel, stepping out of the shadows of the dim boarding platform and into the light. Millennium was going through the day cycle to the artificial nebula around the space-borne city was glowing.

As they passed under the glass-like material, Chen looked up to appreciate the new surroundings. Millennium was not built on a single plane. Four massive arms had been built around the central city like four massive walls, each 'wall' holding a city on its surface. To look out across central city meant looking down upon a city and to look up meant looking out into the nebula. But on the arms, things had changed. They were on an arm now. The massive round plate that held central city now lay to one side. The rectangular arms that held the other three cities lay above and on either side of them.

"Kind of a shame," Corin remarked, seizing Chen's attention. He saw Corin looking at the ground. Chen looked down to see what he was looking at, but all he saw was what looked like a dull blue marble-like floor.

"I don't get it," Chen said.

"Stories say the Asgard could make bridges of light," Corin explained, tapping his foot on the floor. "Back during the Alliance, these floors would be covered in solid light and we could stand on it and it would carry us."

Chen had to admit the idea sounded cool. It actually made him more frustrated at whatever this was. They were supposed to be exploring Millennium, uncovering the wonders of the Alliance of Four Great Races. Instead, they now had to deal with whatever this was.

They continued through the tunnel, emerging in a massive atrium of sorts, kiosks lining the domed room with a few halls leading away.

"Where to now?" Chen asked, he and Corin looking around. It was then they spotted a familiar face standing at one of the doors behind the kiosk.

"Arcturus?" Chen and Corin both said in surprise. The warrior woman was back in her civilian clothes, a white dress shirt and blue skirt.

They hesitated for a moment, not sure what this meant. They had expected someone else from their team or maybe even Hailey. But Arcturus wasn't tied to Wolf Pack nor the Dusk Riders.

She stepped forward, composed and formal even between missions.

"Major Nova's this way," she said, gesturing toward the door she stood beside. Corin and Steven exchanged glances. So did this mean she was in on this too? Either way, their only choice was to follow. The two followed the knight through the door, the light coming through the skylight in the center of the atrium overshadowed as they went into the hall.

It was a tight corridor, clearly meant for one person. They made a sharp left, the hall leading to a brightly lit room. They were inside the kiosk, behind the counter. With the shutters closed, it was a tightly enclosed room. Light shone through a hole in the ceiling onto what probably would have been a countertop back when this city was habited. They were in a type of kitchen, aqua-maroon walls around them, what looked like stoves along the wall, and chairs all around the center countertop.

"Looks like the party started without us," Corin remarked, looking at the people around the table. Nova, Martin, and Hailey all sat at chairs around the counter, looking up at the new arrivals.

"Terra," Chen said solemnly. He was the one who discovered the virus's true origin. Judging from Nova's expression, it was time to come clean.

-.-

**A/N: Hey guys. Here is the new story. I hope you enjoy. I want to hank taleanaomi for helping me with this. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.**

**It's almost strange the direction this series has taken. When I first started it, I didn't have a direction. It just supposed to be a random stargate adventure with unconnected story lines. But, new ideas popped into my head and wanted to explore them and I wanted things from previous stories to carry over such as consequences for one's actions. **

**And yes, thinknig about when I started the series does make me think about plenty of dumb mistakes. I should have probably turned this into one giant story instead of several 3 chapter ones. Not having a direction before ****may have resulted in inconsistencies and convenient patches through the series. ****The fierri were indeed inspired by the Sontarans but that's not the dumb part. The dumb part was the reason I did it was because I had made a crappy youtube trailer when this first started and I had a clip of a Sontaran in it so I felt I now needed to include a Sontaran-esque race just to say the crappy trailer was accurate. Yea, I know it's stupid. I'll probably change that in the future since the fierri's appearance is the only Sontaran-esque thing about them. Another regret is that I never truly dove into the culture of the alien races met.**

**The fierri were actually the only doctor who inspired race. The antenok were inspired by FEAR replica heavy armor. The vormians were actually inspired when I was watching a show on the Discovery channel about a rat infestation in an apartment building. I'm not much of a trekkie so when someone compared them to tribble, I had to google it to find out what that is. Reading the description I was like: "These guys aren't just like tribble. They are tribble short of their physical appearance." **

**Anyways, I went on a tangent. Please tell me what you think and enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

"So how long's this gonna take?" Martin asked. "I thought we were going to start making friends with the neighbors. 'Bout damn time too."

"The General's already assembled diplomatic teams," Corin said. "Neither Wolf Pack nor the Dusk Riders are included, probably reserved for other mission types. Anyways, I'm guessing this has something to do with Typhon."

Nova looked out across the table. Everyone had sat down to discuss the happenings. But something told her that even with what she knew she had just barely scratched the surface. She had tried to keep all this a secret but failed miserably. Even if they didn't know what the exact issue was, they knew it existed.

"We know the origin of the virus…" Nova said hesitantly. She paused again, suddenly reconsidering this meeting. It seemed a good idea at the time. But so did pointing a gun at Mercer. Still, she had started it. She had no choice but to finish it. She took a deep breath before finally telling everyone the truth. "The virus is Tok'ra."

Nova could see everyone's look of shock. She couldn't blame them. The Tok'ra were among one of Earth's closest allies.

"That's not possible," Hailey muttered.

"It's true," Chen spoke up, everyone immediately turning to look at him. "I've worked with Tok'ra malware in the past and this thing had identical coding."

"Wait a minute, Steven," Hailey said. "You can't possibly tell where a virus came from by its source code."

"Trust me, work code long enough and it becomes like hearing someone speak. You pick up on their mannerisms."

"And they admitted it," Nova added. All eyes were once again directed back to Nova. "I…went to Mercer's office."

"What, he just told you everything?" Corin asked skeptically. Nova cleared her throat in embarrassment. She was the leader. She was supposed to set the xample.

"I held him at gunpoint," she confessed.

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed in disbelief. Well, everyone except Arcturus.

"You gotta be kidding me," Chen groaned, burying his face in his hand. "Hey, let's hold the most dangerous man in three galaxies at gun point. That'll be sure to work!" Chen exclaimed, waving his hands about dramatically.

"Alright, look," Nova said, trying to think of a defense. But she couldn't. It really was a stupid move.

"Did anything come out of that?" Arcturus asked calmly, clearly trying to keep the conversation on topic.

"Yea," Nova sighed. "The Tok'ra admitted they've been stocking up weapons specifically to fight us."

"They're afraid," Arcturus concluded.

"Of what?" Martin scoffed.

"That's you've gotten too powerful," Corin answered, figuring out the answer. "You guys already stomped on some pretty big threats and now you have Asgard technology and the Asgard core."

"Yeah, that tech was _given_ to us! We bloody spend how many years with them refusing to give us their crap. Now we get it from somewhere else and they lose their shit about it."

"I'm with Martin on this," Hailey remarked. "We earned this technology."

"They're not trying to stop us from using it," Nova clarified. "They're just trying to even the odds."

"I guess this is the reason behind the whole conspiracy too," Chen remarked. Arcturus looked at him in confusion.

"I don't understand," she said. "I think this was before my time."

"A while back we discovered the whole reason the Millennium Expedition was formed as a type of social experiment," Corin explained. "It was apparently an undertaking involving the IOA, Tok'ra, and Jaffa Nation to make a team with SG-1's skills but more obedient."

"SG-1 being Earth's legendary team of heroes."

"Here's a question," Martin cut in. "What are the IOA scared of? They already have oversight of us. What are they cacking their pants over now?"

"Difference in power, probably," Chen said. "I mean, if the SGC decides to use its 304's to start bombing cities from orbit, what's to stop them?"

"You know China, Britain, and France all have their own ships," Hailey pointed out to Chen.

"And the SGC just finished its fifth battlecruiser. Not only is that a five to three advantage, Olympus and the Hammond both have state of the art tech that surpasses the blueprints that were given to the other countries."

"Wait a minute," Martin cut in. "You actually supporting this?"

"Stop jumping to conclusions," Steven groaned in annoyance. "Look, I haven't made up my mind yet but if I'm going to oppose this, I would at least like to know what I'm opposing. Fact of the matter is, the IOA's control of the SGC is superficial. People break protocol and ignore orders all the time without punishment. It seems the IOA want something a little more solid."

"Maybe, but I'm not sure how comfortable I feel about surrendering more control to the IOA," Martin said. "Those guys have a really bad track record. What's to stop them from ordering us to do something stupid? Or what if we need to do something and they stop us?"

"Like they always do," Hailey pointed out.

"Like they always do!" Martin agreed. "Let's bust open the archives, see how many times we were almost boned thanks to the genius behind the IOA."

"The IOA does need reformation," Corin admitted. "But that shouldn't make oversight any less important."

Hailey looked at Corin in disbelief.

"Wait, you're in favor of being controlled?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Corin snapped. He looked like he genuinely took offense to what Hailey said. He was a former citizen of the Ror'char, an absolute dictatorship. The idea that he supported control probably cut deep.

Finally, Corin closed his eyes and sighed. "Look, I've seen what happens when only a single organization or branch gets unchecked power. Isn't the very concept of the US government built upon checks and balances? The idea that no one entity should have all the power?"

"Perhaps," Arcturus spoke up, holding up a hand to quiet everyone down. She paused to consider her words. "Perhaps the solution lies not in either extremes."

"What do you mean?" Steven Chen asked. Arcturus calmly folded her hands on the table, looking around.

"Perhaps there is a balance, a way to give groups such the IOA some amount of power to feel safe while retaining autonomy."

"The problem is oversight is a form of control," Martin said. "Look, we're assuming that we give the IOA or whoever more power over us they'll never abuse that power."

"Also, didn't this whole thing start because the IOA felt like they didn't have enough power?" Hailey pointed out. "They control the SGC's purse strings and can replace their leaders at the drop of a hat."

"You're bitter that they booted Carter from Atlantis, aren't you?" Chen remarked.

"Sam did good! But the IOA couldn't control her so they replaced her with Woolsey. Now they want him out since he's stopped listening to them too."

Nova looked up and down the table, trying to take in what everyone was saying. Normally hearing her teammates was helpful. But now, she didn't know.

"Arcturus," she said. "Do you have any input?"

Everyone at the table fell silent and looked at the knight, who gave Nova an annoyed glance. It seemed that she did not want to be put at center stage.

"During my time as High Warden of the Order and even before, I made many decisions," she said slowly, folding her hands on the table. "Many of them were mistakes. I was not infallible; however, I could always be assured of my own intent."

"Thank you!" Martin said.

"But as I said earlier," Samanya continued. "Perhaps the solution lies between our suggestions."

"Arc," Chen said. "Taking the middle ground is great in theory but doesn't really work in practice. Try to please everyone and you only succeed in pissing off everyone. Even if we did find a nice middle, chances are the SGC will say the IOA has too much power and the IOA will still say they don't have enough. What I don't understand is why would the IOA agree to let the Tok'ra plant viruses on our ships?" Chen asked.

"I don't think they did," Nova answered. "I think the Tok'ra planted the viruses without their knowing. Look, the Tok'ra are afraid of Earth, but the IOA is only afraid of the SGC."

"It seems they think their goals have enough in common to work together," Arcturus observed.

"It makes sense," Nova said, nodding. "The virus wasn't the IOA's, it was the Tok'ra. The IOA just wants more control. And the Tok'ra don't have oversight so they're taking more drastic measures instead."

"So the Tok'ra are up to their usual tricks," Martin grumbled.

"It's not just the Tok'ra," Nova added. "I think there are other races involved in this."

Hailey's face was one of pure shock.

"Who?!" she cried out.

"The Jaffa, the Langarans, Hebridan," Chen just recited off the top of his head. "It could be anyone Earth's encountered in the past. Could be all of them."

"I still don't get what they're so scared of," Martin said. "We saved the galaxy. Well…not 'we' we, but Earth."

"So did the Quinterans," Chen pointed out.

"We're not the Quinterans," Hailey argued.

"Maybe not now, but what's to stop us from going bad in the future? The Quinterans prove that any nation can use its influence for bad, regardless of their history. Hell, even if we never met the Quinterans, I'm sure there are plenty of examples on Earth. There's no way to be sure your neighbors aren't going to blow you up one day."

"Hey," Martin barked. "I can think of plenty of times when you had a gun and I didn't. I wasn't afraid that you might decide to blow out my brains."

"Analogies about individuals can't apply to entire countries," Corin said. "Countries change leadership. Who's to say the next leader won't be a psychopath?"

"If all the aliens are so scared of the Asgard technology, why don't we just give them some?" Nova suggested.

"The Asgard gave us the technology out of good will," Hailey said. "If they wanted to give their technology to everyone, they would have done so themselves. If we just start sharing technology with whoever, aren't we betraying their trust?"

"Well," Nova sighed, trying to find some positive in all this. "Maybe just make it a gift to the Tok'ra. I mean, as bad as what they're doing is, it probably won't destroy the world."

Everyone around the table fell silent, exchanging glances as if unsure what to say.

"What?" Nova asked. It was obvious that she was missing something.

"You didn't hear?" Martin asked. "About a month after we left, twelve Lucian Alliance motherships appeared over Earth."

Nova felt her blood run cold. Earth's only faced down two direct alien invasions in the past and both times they got lucky.

"What happened?" she asked.

"There were only four ships in orbit at the time," Chen explained. "All twelve ships were destroyed but not before they managed to bomb three cities."

"A lot's happened after we left," Hailey added. "We're looking at Cold War II. Every country is pointing weapons at everyone else. One bad move and every country will be launching at someone else."

Nova opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. How could this have happened? What led to this? Last time she was on Earth, the Director revealed the Stargate Program to the world. She knew there would be some difficulty adjusting to this new knowledge, but she didn't think it would come to this. That's when Nova realized she hadn't even thought about that. Even if her father was gone, her mother was still on Earth. They hadn't spoken after the truth about the Stargate Program was revealed.

"You know the biggest irony is..." Chen remarked. "We actually achieved world peace from this. Just about every major conflict has stopped. Or, at least, been put on pause."

"That's because they're all afraid they'll incur the wrath of someone stronger than them potentially with giant spaceships," Hailey countered.

"Can we even call that 'world peace'?" Martin asked. "And even if the major conflicts have been put on hold, entire cities are being burned to the ground from the civil unrest.

"Wait a minute," Corin spoke up. "How do you know all this?"

"The Typhon's crew," Chen explained. "Everyone wants to know what's been happening back on Earth. Typhon was the last thing the SGC was able to send off. After that, they've agreed to suspend operations."

"Were there any other attacks?" Nova asked worriedly.

"Attempts at skirmishes and hit-and-runs but those got stopped," Martin said, shaking his head. "From what we've been told, the Lucian Alliance isn't doing so hot either. They're fracturing at the seams. I didn't get the details but one of the tech guys said that there is a civil war taking place in the Lucian Alliance."

"I asked Captain Connors about that," Hailey said. "Even before the Millennium Expedition, the Lucian Alliance was split on what they wanted to do with Earth. Some wanted full scale war and others feared us."

"Major," Arcturus spoke up. "From what you've said, I believe that the political turmoil is what caused the civil war."

"But why now?" Chen asked. "I mean, if they couldn't agree on what to do about Earth before, why'd they decide to fight about it now? Shouldn't Netan's death have triggered it?"

"It doesn't matter," Hailey concluded. "Their civil war might be the only thing keepign Earth alive. If Earth is imploding then at least we don't have to worry about an alien invasion to take advantage of our weakness."

"Uh, Hailey, Alliance Tech," Martin pointed out. "I'm pretty sure we can take on the next invasion."

"You know as well as I do coordination is as important if not more important than technology," Hailey argued. "If none of the countries work together, a proper strategy will be enough to end us. We're lucky the Lucian Alliance isn't able to take advantage of this."

"Actually, Jen," Steven Chen spoke up. "I think it's the exact opposite. Nothing unites better than a common enemy. If the Lucian Alliance posed a threat, people might actually work together if for no other reason than to not get blown up. Without a common threat, there's nothing to stop all the countries on Earth from blowing each other up. Cold War II, remember? One disgruntled soldier firing off his gun could be the spark to get everyone sending up their nukes."

"It might be worse than that," Corin spoke up. "I read about your first Cold War. Well, now you have something even worse than your regular nukes."

"What, the naquadah nukes?" Nova asked.

"Starships," Arcturus answered. "A capital ship's firepower vastly overshadows the power of any standard nuclear weapon."

"And that's not to mention the practical applications," Hailey added. "If we wanted to bomb a planet, we could just drop asteroids on it."

"It's not the ships I'm worried about," Nova muttered. Everyone around the room looked at her in confusion. "Have any of you heard of a hyperspace missile?"

Everyone around the room shook their heads. Everyone except Hailey.

"Where did you hear that?" Jennifer asked, her face turning pale with worry.

"It's bad isn't it?" Corin questioned.

"Well, under normal circumstances it isn't," Hailey said. "It was a conceptual weapon design I worked on before I left for Millennium."

"Wait a minute," Martin interrupted. "I saw this in a crappy movie once. You're going to use the hyperdrive to send something flying at faster-than-light speeds into a target."

Martin clearly expected something to confirm his suggestion. But Hailey simply gave him a flat stare.

"What?" she coughed, thinking that he had to be making some kind of joke. "No! If we could do that, don't you think we would've done it already? My god, if we could do that, we could vaporize a planet with something the size of a car."

"Then what is it?" Chen asked impatiently.

"While I was working at Area 51, I was ordered to look into more efficient ways to deliver weapon payloads. I came up with the idea of an interplanetary missile, also known as a hyperspace missile or Interplanetary Hyperspace Missile, IPHM. After launch it would enter hyperspace, exit in a planet's orbit, and hit a target on its surface."

"So, it's like an ICBM," Chen said. "Just on a galactic scale."

"What was the problem?" Nova asked.

"Too expensive. This was still when we had Prometheus. We didn't have a warhead destructive enough to warrant losing a hyperdrive every time. That was before we had Horizon. If we finished the designs then we can glass any planet in Milky Way without ever endangering a ship."

"Why would Earth have to worry about that?"

"Cuz it's all the more reason for our alien allies to be afraid," Chen said. "If it's like what Jen described, then it would be bad if any of them found out about it."

"Well, too late for that," Nova said with an awkward laugh. "The only reason I know about it is because the Tok'ra decided to call the IOA out on it. And nobody was happy."

"The missile isn't based on Asgard technology," Corin pointed out. "Couldn't these Tok'ra make their own?"

"Maybe eventually," Hailey said. "But before they were barely scraping by as it was. They need to first rebuild. If anyone's makes their own IPHM it'd be the Jaffa."

Nova put her hand to her head. Her head was beginning to spin from all this.

"Alright, we can finish this later," she said. "But whatever happens, we need to keep this to ourselves. No one outside of Wolf Pack or Hailey can know about this."

Chen paused when he heard this, glancing at Arcturus.

"What does she count as?" he asked, pointing at the blonde.

"She was on the ship with us," Martin argued.

"So were Kara and Soren. Why aren't they here?"

Nova cleared her throat, instantly getting both their attention.

"I confided Arcturus about that back on the ship," Nova explained. "Look, I don't know what's going to happen so we need to keep this as close to the chest as possible just to be on the safe side. Alright?"

Everyone around the table nodded. So it was agreed.

"What now then?" Corin asked. Nova looked around, not sure what to do. They all now knew what was going on. What could they do with this information?

"All we can do now it just go about our day," Hailey said. "I'm grounded until my team is healed up. And Wolf Pack is grounded while Martin finishes his physical evaluation."

"I'm fine!" Martin cried out indignantly.

"Doctor's orders," Chen reminded him. "Kara wants an additional 24 hours to give the healed muscles time to rest."

"So we might as well take some time to ourselves," Hailey added. "We aren't going to achieve anything by worrying."

"Honestly, though," Chen added. "Does this really change anything in our everyday lives? Let the politicians do what they do."

Nova knew Jennifer and Steven had a point. Still, Terra could not help but worry. She had practically been praying in front of the Furling obelisk in the Sanctum, hoping someone would answer. And now she had to act like nothing was happening.

"Hey, Major," Martin spoke up. "I was gonna take Corin and Sam to the batting cages. Wanna join?"

Nova glanced at Chen, surprised Martin didn't list his name.

"What about Steven?" she asked.

"Oh, he has movie date with Felger," Martin said, waving him off.

"Don't call it that!" Chen snapped. Nova closed her eyes and smiled. Her friends were right. Technically speaking, nothing had changed. The conspiracy was going on before today. And it would continue even if she didn't know about it. She might as well try to enjoy her free time before she was back on duty.

"Alright," Nova said. "Hey, Hailey, wanna join?"

Hailey just smiled at that statement.

"It's fine," Jennifer said. "I have a friend to catch up with."

-.-

Hailey looked out across the lush green plants that lined the paths before her. If she didn't know better, she would never have been able to tell she was in space. She often forgot that fact. Sure she could look up at the sky but during the day she could only see the glowing clouds of the artificial nebula around them and at night she could see a night sky.

"Hailey," a voice behind her said. She turned around, immediately spotting Grogan standing amongst the plants.

"You made it," she said.

"Yea, I was in the VR room," Grogan said, gesturing toward the left wall as if to point at the adjacent room.

"When did you start caring so much about practice?" Hailey laughed.

"Eh…about when I stopped getting shot."

Hailey stared at Grogan for a moment, not understanding what he meant. Finally, she remembered his propensity for getting shot at least once in every mission and she burst laughing.

"Hey, I'm on a streak here," Grogan said. "Two years and going. This is a record for me."

"I love how our norm is your achievement," Hailey said, her face still red from laughter. "Wasn't the last time when you got a wraith stunner to the ass?"

Grogant made a face at the memory.

"Couldn't sit straight for a week," he muttered.

"Couldn't shit straight either," Hailey said with a smile.

"Exactly! So, I'm doing everything I can to make sure I don't get shot from here on out."

Hailey merely smiled and nodded, walking down the path, Carl Grogan following her.

"Where are we anyways?" he asked, looking around.

"The park," Hailey said, stopping at the rail that looked over the river. "The Alliance really could do anything."

"And these plants?" Grogan asked.

"Oh, they're from this galaxy but most of them aren't anything special. That said, we need to avoid section 3. One of the plants there releases a very powerful aphrodisiac."

"Ooh, that sounds messy," Carl remarked.

"You have no idea. Prying those two botanists off each other was not pretty."

"Geez. It sounds like Millennium gets as many incursions as the SGC."

"Nah, I think the SGC has us beat. Barely three minutes after you guys finish your training, we get a real alien incursion. You were so convinced that it was another training scenario that you had to get shot to realize it wasn't."

"Ok, listen…" Grogan said, preparing to explain himself. But his voice trailed off.

"I'm listening," Hailey said to his silence.

"Alright, I wasn't the only one who thought it was a test," was Grogan's argument.

"I know," Hailey chuckled. "Elliot thought so…"

Her voice trailed off.

Elliot.

Saying his name brought memories back.

"Sorry," Grogan said.

"It's…it's fine," Hailey mumbled.

"I know that you and Elliot had a fling…"

Hailey immediately shot Grogan an agitated glare.

"My god, why does everyone keep bringing that up. Yes, me and Kevin secretly had a thing for a bit. Why is that the first thing everyone brings up?"

Jennifer's voice trailed off again, realizing that she was just exploding on Grogan.

"Sorry," Hailey said, looking down in guilt.

"It's fine," Grogan said waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject. "I shouldn't have brought him up."

"No, I shouldn't have snapped like that," Hailey insisted, not sure what to say next. It was clear Grogan didn't know what to say either, leaving an awkward silence.

"Hey," Grogan said, breaking the quietness. "Why don't you give me a tour around the rest of the city? I mean, it's a city isn't it? Got any cool places?"

Hailey smiled at this. After all that's happened between Elliot from years ago and the Typhon and the conspiracy today, she could still take time out of her day to enjoy herself.

-.-

Chen finally reached the lounge Felger wanted to meet him at. It was one of the smaller lounges, a somewhat narrow rectangular room with a throw rug on the floor on a sofa on top of it. There was a countertop with a microwave behind the couch, and a crystal screen in front of it. With nothing on it, it was a serene blue with a lattice of flat crystals canvased across it.

But Chen's eyes fell upon who was already in the room.

Soren was sitting on the couch, munching away at a bowl of popcorn.

Chen was so used to seeing Soren in a long coat when on missions it was strange seeing him in jeans and a hoodie.

Chen had to hold back an irritated grumble. Felger had to invite the murderer to join them.

"Hey, Soren," Chen said with a sheepish smile. He had to remind himself that he was doing it for Kara. She wanted him to forgive, let go of his anger and all that jazz. He was doing it for her.

Soren grunted in acknowledgement of Chen's greeting. At least he didn't have to make conversation with the guy.

"Oh, Steven!" a shrill voice said. Chen turned around. Felger had returned with another bowl of popcorn. "Oh, so you're friends with Soren. That's awesome! You guys can sit together."

Chen's body turned to stone. He now had to sit by the murderer.

Chen swallowed the thing building up in his throat. This was a reward for Felger's progress. And he clearly liked hanging out with Soren. Chen would silence his aggravation for now.

"What popcorn do you have?" Chen asked as he reluctantly sat next to Soren.

"Caramel," he said, holding the bowl out.

"I'm good," Chen said. "I prefer butter."

"Oh, Soren has the double butter," Felger said. "That's his favorite."

Of course it was…

"Anyways," Chen said. "What are we watching?"

-.-

"Martin's explained baseball to you, right?" Nova asked Arcturus as she readied her bat. Makeshift batting cages were among the recreational material first brought with the expedition. Set up in an abandoned building of some sort, they didn't know what it was used for before but now it was where expedition members came to relax.

Chain-linked fenses creating batting stations, a green carpet laid out on the floor all the way to the other side where several pitching machines stood. Control panels were attached to the sides of the batting cages, letting batters program the pitching machine from a distance.

"I understand the basics," Arcturus replied, prepping her own bat. "With my sword skills, I have no doubt I will master this with ease." Corin and Martin were also in separate batting cages, programming the pitching machines from a distance.

Nova quickly programmed her machine to the highest setting before getting into position.

"So, Major," Martin remarked, prepping himself as well. "You any good at baseball."

As if to answer his question, her machine fired. There was an earsplitting crack as Nova smashed the ball with her bat, launching it back across the room.

Corin and Martin watched as the ball was practically returned to the machine.

"Bugger me…" Martin muttered, looking at his commanding officer. Martin gaped at the sight as Nova did it again.

And again.

And again.

Finally, he got ready.

"Right," he said. "I'm not letting her one up me."

Corin just rolled his eyes, not as competitive as the other two. Soon, the four of them were having at it. Baseballs flew out of the pitching machines before flying off in the other direction after getting cracked by the bat. Martin and Nova sent baseballs streaking through the air while Corin went at a more leisurely pace.

Arcturus meanwhile…

She tried a one-handed technique. She tried the crosswise swipe. She a horizontal strike.

But when she wasn't missing, she barely grazed the balls. After the umpteenth miss, her shoulders sagged as she heaved a sigh.

Martin noticed her frustration.

"Sam?" he asked.

Arcturus didn't answer. She looked up and cracked her neck, ready to try again.

-.-

Grogan still didn't know the layout of Millennium so he had no idea where he and Hailey were going.

"Over here," she said, leading Grogan up another flight of stairs. He knew he was in the central tower of central city but that's about it. They had already passed the gate room and they continued going up.

"Where are we going?" Grogan called out, running after her.

"You'll see," Hailey said. Grogan wished she didn't have to be so ambiguous. He hoped that they were getting close to whatever it was she wanted to show them.

They had to be close to the top of the tower. The ceiling was so low that his head was practically touching it. And the ceiling at the far end of the room was slanted. It was like they were in an attic or something.

Hailey went over to the slanted roof, opening the hatch in the ceiling leading outside. She stepped through the hatch, pausing to offer Grogan a hand.

Grogan took Hailey's hand, letting himself get pulled up onto the roof.

"Are were there yet?" he panted, picking himself up. As he got to his feet, he looked up at the sky. And his jaw dropped.

The day cycle was coming to an end, the golden clouds losing their glow.

But what replaced with a beautiful wash of colors. Columns of violet clouds jutted through the darkening sky, green and blue splashes across the background. That were sparkles sprinkled across the sky.

The two of them were at the very tip of the central tower, hundreds of feet above the ground, a perfect view of the clouds past the cities on the four arms of the city.

"Does this happen every night?" Grogan asked in amazement, his mouth still agape.

"Every night and every morning," Hailey answered. "Thought it'd be a nice way to end the day."

Grogan was satisfied with that. He and Hailey both sat back, just staring at the sky.

"Millennium what you thought it'd be?" Hailey asked. Grogan could only laugh at this.

"The Alliance really did know how to build 'em," he said. "Man, I wish I could show this to my family."

"Yeah, I wish I could show my little sister this."

"How did she react when she found out you were a space marine?" Grogan asked with a mocking smile.

"That's exactly what she called me," Hailey said. "I told her, it's Air Force." She leaned back against the roof, putting her arms beneath the back of her head.

"You told me you always wanted to be someone your sister looked up to," Grogan reminded her. "Well, I think being the younger sister of a 'space marine' is something to admire."

"Air Force, fly boy; we're both Air Force," Hailey said. "And…I guess it is."

The two of them just looked up at the sky, a gentle breeze blowing through their hair.

"Carl," Hailey said, interrupting him from his trance. "You ok? You seem distracted. If you're tired, we can call it a day."

Cral opened his mouth, not sure how to answer.

"Hey, Hailey," Grogan spoke. "You mind doing me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I have some waveforms I'd like you to take a look at."

Hailey paused for a moment, sitting up and looking at him curiously. This clearly wasn't the favor she expected.

"Ok," she said. "Am I looking for anything?"

"Well, could you compare them?"

"Compare them," Hailey repeated. "That doesn't really help."

"Here, I'll show you," Grogan said, standing up and waving for her to follow him.

-.-

Hailey's room wasn't completely neat. Yet it wasn't completely messy either. A better description would be explosion. The the edge of the 'blast' was untouched, with all the books and notes neatly organized on rows of shelves along the square room, doorways leading to her sleeping area and her work area being just at neat. But as one would move closer to the 'epicenter', the messier it would become with instruments scattered about the floor. And at its center was a table with a pair of dismantled X699's on them, a project that she could do in her own room without a team nor a proper lab. The table was a complete mess with tools scattered about.

Hailey and Grogan were in her work area, a computer set up on a desk under a bookshelf. She plugged the USB into the computer, pulling up all the necessary programs. After a few clicks, the first waveform was pulled up.

"Ok, it looks like a modulated waveform," Hailey said, immediately getting Grogan to look at her in disappointment.

"That's it?" he asked.

"I don't know what you want me to say! It looks like a standard SGC transmission with a carrier wave and a modulating wave containing whatever transmissions we want to send. There seems to be a secondary modulating wave but-"

"That secondary wave," Grogan immediately said. "Tell me about it."

Hailey typed a few commands into her console, bringing up another window.

"Ok, so not interference," Hailey muttered. "It looks like this secondary wave is a digital modulating wave that alternates between amplitude and frequency modulation at consistent intervals."

"Ok, and what does _that_ mean?"

"Modulating waves are used to send messages. We would have a carrier wave and modulate it to send whatever messages we need to send. But there's like background noise or something. It's like if you record yourself speaking and I'm in the background whispering."

"Alright, bring up another one," Grogan said. Hailey clicked a few buttons and another waveform appeared on screen.

"Ok…" Hailey said slowly. "That's interesting. This waveform has also been modified by a secondary modulating wave, another digital modulating wave that alternates between amplitude and frequency modulation at the exact same intervals."

"What about the wave?" Grogan asked.

"Completely different," Hailey said. "But the fact they use similar methods and alternate at the exact same intervals…this is certainly odd."

Hailey looked at Grogan curiously.

"Carl, what is this about?" Hailey asked. Grogan didn't answer. He simply put in another request.

"Hailey, look at the last file in the drive."

Hailey immediately complied, opening the window and scrolling to the bottom.

"That's the one," Grogan said when Hailey's cursor hovered over the last file. She clicked it and opened the file, immediately analyzing the wave.

"Same deal," Hailey said. "Same style of digital modulation with an alternating pattern of frequency and amplitude modulation. Grogan, where did you get these?" Hailey could see the look of concern on Carl Grogan's face.

"The first one was a transmission from the SGC," he explained. "The second one was a transmission from Atlantis. And the last one was a transmission from Millennium."

"It's probably just a glitch in the computers," Hailey said with a shrug. She had to admit it was odd seeing all the waveforms changed in the exact same way but she didn't see what the big deal was.

"I'm not so sure about that," Grogan said. "I have one more thing to check. If I get you the Typhon logs, can you scan for this modu-wave thing?"

"Just get me a signal file," Hailey said. "Wait, what are you taking from the Typhon?"

Hailey's words fell on deaf ears as Grogan vanished through her door.

-.-

The Typhon was left exactly where it had parked. There weren't many people around with the ship's supplies being catalogued and redistributed. And, Grogan just walked up the ramp and into the ship. Being on the ship during its maiden voyage, he knew how to get to the empty bridge. It didn't take long for him to snatch a flashdrive left behind by one of the tech monkeys, plug it in, access the computer files, copy them, then snatch the drive and leave.

Grogan looked at the flash drive in his hand as he made his way back down the hall. This was the moment of truth. He looked up, ready get going. With how small the ship was he could easily get off within a few moments. At least he was going to. He had just turned around a corner when he saw him: a dark figure standing at the end of the hall. Grogan squinted, trying make out who that was. But for some reason, the lights were all out in front of him.

"Hello?" he called out. The figure didn't answer, at least not immediately. Instead, the dark figure started clapping.

"My, my," the shadowy silhouette said. "I really must congratulate you. I guess it's true what they say: never underestimate the ability of the average person to realize when something is wrong. Figuring all this out simply by listening to the discussions of technicians who had served in the SGC, Atlantis, and Millennium. Very observent of you."

Grogan's hand drifted to his waist but stopped when he realized he didn't have a gun to draw. Why would he? He wasn't on mission. He was on Millennium. He was supposed to be safe.

"Who are you?" Grogan asked. He couldn't figure out who this person was or why he was revealing himself. From how it was behaving, he would guess it was somehow involved in all this. Maybe the figure was even behind it all. But if that was the case, why did it choose to show himself?

"Spoilers," the figure chuckled, slowly walking forward. "That being said, I can't let you start blabbing about all this."

Grogan's eyes went wide when he saw the figure reach down toward his belt. He could only guess that the person was reaching for a pistol. He had no weapon and here he was stuck in a hall with someone reaching for a gun. He immediately turned around and took off down the hall.

What the hell was going on here? Who was that guy? Grogan needed to get this information to Hailey and Mercer. But with that hall blocked, he was going to have to take a detour.

It took a minute longer than he would have liked but he made it to the ship's ring platform. Where the hell was the rest of the crew? He was about to punch the code into the console when he noticed something: the lights were flickering.

Grogan's heart sank as he turned around. He didn't even need to see it to know it was there: the dark figure stood at the end of the hall. Grogan couldn't see its face but he knew that that thing was smiling.

He wasn't waiting any longer. He punched the code into the bad and rushed back to the ring engraved in the floor.

The dark figure had begun to walk forwards, every light in front of it shorting out one by one, keeping it in a cloak of darkness. But it was too late. Five massive rings emerged from the floor, surrounding Grogan. There was a brilliant flash of light, the world around him vanishing behind a curtain of white light. When the curtains were drawn back once more, the world around him had changed. He was now below the ship, standing in a park on Millennium.

Grogan looked around to get his bearings. He had to leave before that thing, whatever it was, followed him. He took off for the door. If he wanted to escape, he would have to go through chemical labs.

Mere moments after he left, the ring platform on the ship activated once more. The rings descended to the ground. There was a flash of light and the rings returned to the ship, the hooded figure now standing where the rings once were. He raised his left hand to his jaw, speaking into the radio attached to his wrist.

"He's moving into position," the man said. "Tell Asag to proceed."

"Sir, I don't understand why we are making this such a tedious process," the man on the other end of the radio said. "We could easily silence Carl Grogan."

"And what do you think would happen if an expedition member turns up dead? No, no, no. Follow my lead. Carl Grogan will be silenced. And we can have some fun in the process."

-.-

Arcturus shrunk back in embarrassment, her eyes darting back and forth between the members of Wolf Pack.

"What is it, Martin?" she finally asked, her eyes falling on Charles Martin. "I don't feel comfortable being stared at like that."

Martin's entire expression had practically become a series of flat lines. His eyes were narrowed with discontent. His lips were a thin line across his face.

"I had no idea you were such a sore loser," he said, his tone as flat as his expression.

"I completely didn't see that coming," Nova remarked, leaning back. "With how calm she is normally, I didn't think she could get that competitive."

"You should see her when she thinks you're taking it easy on her," Martin scoffed.

"What, she sulks then too?" Corin asked.

"No. She gets bloody pissed off."

"But Martin, you were also very competitive," Arcturus said as if desperate to find a defense.

"When the person next to you matches you hit for hit, you get a little worked up," Martin explained.

"You're just mad you lost," Nova remarked with a grin.

"Nah," Corin remarked. "I think there's only one loser here."

Nova and Martin laughed at this as Arcturus just shrunk further back.

"Well," Martin said, jumping off the bleachers and stretching. "I think it's food time."

"Sounds good to me," Nova said. "We should-"

Nova didn't get to finish that statement. The intercom immediately came to life, Donavan's voice projecting across the entire city.

"Alert, chemical spill in Bio-chemical lab C. The area around the labs is under lockdown. Military heads, please report to the conference room."

Nova and Martin exchanged confused glances.

"The hell is going on?" Martin mumbled.

-.-

Chen looked at the ceiling curiously. Without a word, he got to his feet and got to work putting his shoes back on.

"Steven?" Felger said, watching Steven head for the door.

"Don't wait for me," he called back, vanishing into the hall. He headed for the closest arc. Since the hospitals were emergency services, there would be an arc in it. He had to get to Kara before she left.

Chen ran up to the arc doors, the panel opening upon his approach. He immediately selected the central hospital. Chen could hear the arc power up before the doors slid open. It was across the city but the arc connected the two locations like walking through a door. He could even see the surprised look of some of the doctors even before he went through.

"Kara," he called out, looking around. He immediately spotted his ex-girlfriend amongst the crowd, rushing to gather all the medical supplies she needed. She had already donned her medical HAZARD suit, an orange body suit with an elaborate pink metal exoskeleton on the outside of it. She still had yet to extend its helmet, likely to savor as much fresh air as possible.

"Kara, what's happening?" Chen called out, making his way across the room.

"Steven," she said. "Now is not a good time. I need to get all the supplies to-"

Steven didn't even let her finish. He rushed up to one of the cabinets, taking out a box with the words _SPILLKIT_ labeled on the front. He immediately rushed across the room and took a chest with the words _Emergency Shower_ labeled on its lid.

"You actually remember…" Osborn said in awe as Chen dumped the stuff on the table.

"You always said I was a good listener," Chen mumbled, trying to organize all the items on the table. "Once we get all the stuff ready, I'll put on a HAZARD suit and play pack mule. What chemicals are we dealing with."

"I don't know," she said. "But I was told that its side effects include hysteria, hallucinations, and violence."

Chen looked at Osborn in disbelief. Just hearing the list, he knew it meant every person affected would probably attack them on sight.

"Don't worry," Kara said. "Guards armed with trazers have already been sent ahead. Another medical team's been sent ahead to set up a medical station. Once you finished up here, meet me there."

Chen gave a thumbs up as he went to grab another bag. Kara pushed a button on her suit and the helmet extended over her head, a faceplate with two horizontal pink veins of energy running over where its eyes would be.

"Alright, people," Osborn called out. "Let's go!"

-.-

Grogan's world was an endless mist. He was in a fog, bumbling forward blindly. He didn't know how long he was stumbling through the fog, but he finally saw it: light. There was light ahead of him. He didn't know what it was but he stumbled toward the light. He stumbled into the light, the blinding white filling his vision.

Grogan's eyes opened, the lights in the ceiling nearly blinding him. He blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings. He tried to sit up but couldn't. He couldn't move his arms. He looked down, realizing his arms had leather straps around them.

Adrenaline flooded his system as reality finally dawned on him, his eyes widening as he looked around. He was on a gurney, his arms restrained to the rails.

"What?" he called out. "What's going on?!"

He looked around. He was in some sort lobby. But how did he get here?

The last thing he remembered was escaping the Typhon and heading for the chemical labs. But he couldn't remember anything that happened after that.

That's when he realized: his USB was gone.

"Hey!" he called out, looking around. Finally, someone responded. He watched as a person entered the room. Grogan couldn't tell who it was, his entire body encased in a HAZARD suit, two view ports glowing with energy making what looked like eyes on the helmet.

"Captain Grogan," the man said. "It's fine. You're safe."

"What's going on?" Grogan demanded to know.

"There was a chemical spill. Vapors were carried by the ventilation system."

"Why am I restrained?"

"Side effect of the chemical is paranoia and hysteria. We had to restrain you for your sake and ours."

With what has been happening lately, Grogan wasn't sure whether or not to believe this. He was definitely feeling more panicked than normal. But how could he not? Something was going down that not only involved the SGC but Atlantis, Millennium, and even their alien allies.

"I had a USB," Grogan said. "Do you have it?"

"We found it when we found you," the man said reassuringly, showing Grogan a USB in his hand. "Don't worry. We will make sure Hailey and Mercer get the data. But for now, rest."

Grogan gave a sigh of relief and leaned back. Even if he was exposed to whatever this chemical was, at least he had the data. And that data was going to be taken to Mercer and Hailey.

"Wait a minute," Grogan said, sitting up, or at least trying to sit up. "How did you know what I was going to do with the drive?"

The man paused, his back still turned to Grogan. He didn't say anything. But Grogan didn't need him to. Grogan knew the answer. The man held his hand out to the side, showing Grogan the USB in his hand. Finally, with a twist of his hand, the man crushed the USB between his fingers.

Grogan's eyes went wide as the plastic twisted and snapped, the green chip inside snapping. Whoever this was, he destroyed the evidence. And Grogan knew he was next. He began thrashing in the gurney, the rails rattling with every shake. He looked around in panic, trying to find something to help him.

He could see the person taking out a syringe and walking toward a cabinet at the far end of the room. Grogan could only be glad the person was moving so slowly. But that still didn't help him.

He could start shouting, making noise and hope someone hears him. But that might make things worse. The guy was clearly taking his time. If he started calling for help, the man might move faster.

Grogan kept looking around. There was a cart next to his head but he couldn't see what was on it. And even if he knew what was on it, he couldn't reach it.

Grogan looked down. His feet weren't restrained. This may be the only way for him to escape. Using his feet to help, Grogan tossed himself to one side of the gurney with all his weight. The felt the cart tilt. But it was slight and only for half a second before it landed back down.

This was going to be harder than he thought. But he had to hurry. The person had taken out a jar of something and had begun filling the syringe with the liquid inside.

Grogan tossed himself to the side of the gurney once more. He didn't wait for it to start coming back down before he tossed his weight in the other direction, the cart tilting further in the other direction. Grogan then tossed himself in the other direction.

Finally, he gave in. These things were made not to tip.

He was about to give up when he realized something: his struggling had repositioned the gurney. He was now right next to the cart that was originally by his head. And in it he could see a scalpel laying there.

He couldn't move his hands much but he was able to move it enough. He reached past the edge of the gurney's rails, feeling the cool metal of the cart. His fingers felt around the edge of the cart, trying to find handle of the scalpel. Finally, he found it. He could feel the smooth metal blade.

He didn't have time to try to find the handle. He didn't know why the strange man was taking so long but he had no complaints. He grasped the blade of the scalpel, feeling the sharp edge digging into his thumb, before he moved his hand back to the gurney.

His wrist was beyond sore. He had pushed into the restraint in order to get that. But if he could escape, it was well worth it.

He fumbled with the bladed tool for a bit, trying into insert it into the leather restraint. Finally, with it in, he grasped the handle and began cutting. But the sound of a new set of footsteps caught his attention. Grogan looked up as a new person entered the room. And he felt his blood run cold. His fingers slackened around the scalpel. He's seen this man before. He was back. The man from the ship was back. But now standing in the brightly lit room, Grogan could see the black long coat that covered its figure, a hood covering its head. But Grogan couldn't see the face.

"You…" Grogan breathed, the hooded man not facing him.

"I see our patient has awoken," the hooded man said, his voice distorted like it was being muffled by something. "How are you feeling?"

"Let me go and I'll show you," Grogan remarked, trying his best to make light of the situation. He was restrained to a gurney, two people trying to kill him now standing in the same room, he could be drugged for all he knew with all the talks about some sort of mind-altering chemical, and he had lost the evidence he needed to show Hailey. If he learned anything from his training with SG-1, it's to always see the positive side of any situation. But he was really stretching right now.

"You could just finish cutting yourself loose and show me yourself," it said. Grogan felt a chill down his spine. So, they knew he was cutting himself free. Then why were they letting him? "Something I've always enjoyed about people from Earth: they're always so positive. It's always a pleasure listening to them."

"So, you know about us?" Grogan asked. That was the other thing Grogan wanted to know. Who was this guy? He heard about the Ror'char and Quinterans. Was this one of their spies? Maybe a space pirate.

"Oh yes," the hooded man said. "Very impressive resume. A single primitive planet, and you've overthrown the System Lords, wiped out the replicators, stopped the Ori, vanquished an entire race of ascended beings, you've even brought the Wraith, the enemy of the Ancients, to the brink of collapse."

"If you know who we are, then you should know your best decision is to give up," Grogan said. "You know we have Asgard technology. You know what we've faced so you know we've faced far worse than you."

The hooded man let out a cold chuckle.

"The rousing speech," it said, clearly amused. "I've always wanted to hear one in person. The Tau'ri really are something to behold."

At that moment, Grogan felt the blood drain from his face.

"Tau'ri," he repeated. There were only a small handful of races that used that term and none of them were from this galaxy.

"You are wrong about one thing," the hooded man said, finally turning to face Grogan. "You've never faced anything like me."

Grogan's jaw dropped. It wasn't possible. He looked at the face of the hooded man. At least he would if it wasn't covered by a white mask. A tall man in a dark long coat, a hood over his head and a white featureless opera mask over his face. Grogan knew of only one person that fit such a description.

"That's not possible," Grogan breathed. "You died. They had your body! Director?"

The figure chuckled at this.

"I am more than a mere man," the Director said. "I am a concept. You can destroy the flesh, but I am immortal. The Goa'ulds, the gods of our galaxy…" The Director scoffed at the notion. "A god is only as potent as his worshippers. I, I am eternal, existing in the hearts of every individual no matter how ignorant they are to my existence."

"It all makes sense now," Grogan stuttered. "You've been sending secret signals to our alien allies. You put the virus on the Typhon!"

"I simply activated the virus," the Directory laughed. "Your good friends the Tok'ra did. But one out of two isn't bad."

"You're lying!" Grogan shouted. "Why would the Tok'ra…"

The Director laughed at Grogan's reaction, a long hollow laugh.

"You'd be surprised what people will do when they believe their cause is right and just," he sneered, taking out a dagger from his coat and flicking the blade. "Just look at you and all you and your planet has accomplished. What was it that that jaffa Teal'c always said? Our victory is certain because our cause is just?" The Director swatted the air with a chuckle. "Don't quote me on that. But you see the trouble with being on the right side of history: everybody thinks they're on it. If villains are the heroes of their own story, how can you ever be sure of the cause you fight for? Have you ever considered that you aren't heroes at all? Perhaps you are all villains, deluded to the truth."

Grogan couldn't dawdle. He resumed cutting as he watched the Director pace the room. The Director knew that he was cutting the straps. So why wasn't the Director stopping him?

He took a while, but he felt the leather suddenly slacken. He immediately freed his right arm. He reached over and undid the belt holding his left.

Grogan leapt to his feet, grabbing the tray from the cart and tossing it at the Director. The hooded man slapped aside the tray, not even distracted by it. His subordinate prepared to attack but the masked man called him off with a mere raise of his hand.

Grogan lunged at the masked man. A scalpel was tiny for a knife it would do. But the Director stepped aside, pushing past Grogan. Grogan whipped around, ready to make another stab. But that's when he realized: the scalpel was gone. He looked up, realizing the Director held the scalpel in his hand.

He was out of options. Grogan bolted through the door, sprinting down the hall.

"Run all you want, Carl. But you cannot escape inevitability."

Grogan couldn't tell if the Director was chasing him. He didn't dare look behind. But the Goa'uld's voice seem to emanate from the walls. The colors around him were awash and it felt like the lights were too bright. Was this the chemical? It felt like the entirety of existence was watching him, studying him like a child watching ants through a magnifying glass. The Director was everywhere and nowhere, watching his every move, his voice coming from every direction.

"I am eternal. I existed before this body. And I will continue long after its destruction. I am the chisel and the righteous cause that you claim gives you strength will be the hammer that will tear down everything you hold dear. You don't need to search other galaxies or higher planes for greater threats. You will always be your own worst enemy and all you love will be crushed under the weight of your sins."

-.-

_**A/N: Hey guys. Next chapter. I thought I wouldn't drag out the completely-not-obvious mystery out any longer. And it would let me play without the Director's colorful personality. **_

_**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. I've been settling into a new job position which has eaten a lot of my time. I hope that the crunched time hasn't affected my writing.**_

_**Also, hey SCE. Hope you're enjoying the story. To answer your question, I do picture the Olympus to have Ori and Asgard technology integrated into it. I just used the phrase 'state of the art' as a way of saying all alien tech to this point. The Typhon does have ancient tech integrated into it but I mostly focused on mentioning Asgard and Ori tech since that is the stuff we hear less about. And I do not intend to give Millennium more ships. At least on the Tau'ri side of things. The Typhon will be their go to ship. **_

_**Anyways, let me know what you think and enjoy.**_

_**Oh, one more thing. When I first started this series I went for a multi-ep three part story. In hindsight, and as many have pointed out, it may not have been the best choice. But, I couldn't really change it until I reached a certain point in the story line. More specifically, something big has to happen. Well, now I have reached that point. **_

_**Do you think I should continue with my three chapter eps? Or do you think I should try to put all my stories into one large story?**_

_**-.-**_

Hailey had left her room to find out what's going on when she heard about the chemical spill. So when she was called to the conference room, she made it there within moments.

"What's going on?" she asked, going up the stairs leading to the area. The conference room had quite a few military personnel along with Soren and Arcturus. Nova and Martin stood at one side. And a laptop on the table had a conference call to Umar in the infirmary.

"Gentlemen," Mercer announced, standing at the front of the conference room, beside the crystal screen as a map of the central city of Millennium appeared. "As you know, there was a chemical spill earlier today. Military personnel in HAZARD suits have been deployed to keep all affected confined within the area. Doctors inform me that side effects of the spill include paranoia, hysteria, hallucinations, and potential violence. Vapors of this chemical were carried through the ventilation. As a result, the entire area was placed under lockdown. However, it seems our quarantine has been breached. At least one person has escaped the lockdown. Your primary objective is to establish a secondary perimeter outside the quarantine zone. Nobody in or out. Your secondary objective is to find the escapee and return them to the quarantine zone."

Hailey now understood why she was called. Mercer probably only used random security personnel for the quarantine. With the potential of escapees, he needed higher ranking people to make sure no one else would escape. That was why Umar was on a conference call too. He was ranking military officer.

But there was something she needed to know.

"General," Hailey spoke up. "Do we have an ID on the escapee?"

"From what I've been told…" Mercer said slowly. "It's Captain Carl Grogan."

Hailey felt her heart drop. This was why he never came back.

-.-

Grogan staggered down the hall, his head still in a vice. The city was a maze. He's run inside buildings. He's run outside buildings. He's run down so many halls he didn't even know where he was. He could have been running in a circle and he wouldn't know.

He stopped to catch his breath. He didn't know if the Director was still chasing him or not. He didn't dare to look back.

When he was first told about the chemical spill, he felt skeptical. It had to have been a trick, a lie to manipulate him. But even he had to admit that he was way more panicked than he should.

He looked up, noticing the sign right beside his head.

Security Station.

Hailey mentioned this. Behind these doors was the guard station and an armory.

Grogan kept trying to tell himself that he was overreacting. This was the chemical playing with his brain. But, he could not shake the feeling that he was being hunted, that any second something would leap from the walls and kill him.

No.

Killing him would be merciful. It would leap out and do something far worse than death.

The door was open for some reason. He didn't bother questioning why. He ran inside. The hall on the other side branched into two rooms, the security room where the guard would monitor the security systems, and the armory. Grogan immediately went to the armory. The weapon racks were large, probably to house Alliance small arms. But they only held a few guns for security guards. He grabbed a P90 and a magazine of plasma tipped rounds.

He was a target.

He had to protect himself.

From everyone…

-.-

"This is Sir Arcturus, reporting from Hallway 24A."

"This is Tolinev, patrolling 32G."

"Soren Stavig, 31C is clear."

"This is Doctor Chen. I just saw a pair of loonies right outside the medical station. Request permission to go after them."

"Negative. I'll send two guards to detain them. Understood? Doctor Chen, report?"

"This is Major Nova, I'm close to Doctor Chen's position. I'm on my way."

-.-

Nova and another guard made their way through the hall, their weapons raised. It wasn't the fastest way to travel. But it was safe. They didn't know if they were going to use the weapons in their hands. They cleared each hall, Nova taking the lead, her partner keeping in eye on her back and the corners she can't check.

They were both wearing HAZARD suits, her a dark purple with a single violet view port that glows like a vein of energy.

Martin was still undergoing physical evaluation so he couldn't come with her. But that didn't mean she couldn't work with another soldier, also donned in a HAZARD suit.

She rounded the final corner, her trazer at the ready. They were going up against their own personnel and they didn't want to kill anyone. This stun weapon was perfectly designed to do that. But she still had to be careful. She had to clear each all and each room, make sure she wasn't ambushed at close quarters.

Nova turned down the next hall, ready to face whatever it was that was in front of the medical center. She was immediately met with the barrel of another trazer.

"Steven?" she breathed. She was looking at a man in a dark gray HAZARD suit, the two view ports in his helmet glowing red like a pair of angry glowing eyes. Steven Chen was always the one who picked this suit.

Under him, wincing in pain from a shoulder lock, was one of the scientists.

"What the hell were the chucklenuts in the chemical labs making?!" Chen exclaimed in disbelief. The scientist under him suddenly started wailing. But it wasn't a scream of agony. The man underneath Chen was just screaming akin to how a baby would scream. "Would someone shut this guy up!" Chen roared.

Kara Osborn emerged from the back, donned in her HAZARD suit, kneeling down by the scientist and injecting something into his neck.

"Alright, you can let go," she said. Chen huffed in annoyance and stood up, brushing himself off.

"You alright?" Nova asked.

"Peachy," Chen remarked sardonically. "Going to have nightmares for the next week, though."

"What happened?" Nova heard her partner ask from behind her.

"This schmuck walked right into the medical station," Chen explained. "Had a nice conversation, thought he was gonna turn himself in. Next thing I know, he runs off then comes running back here with a freakin' flashlight!" Chen held up a black flashlight. It was a heavy metal one. Perhaps not the best weapon compared to say a knife, but heavy enough that a person could do some serious damage bashing someone over the head with it.

"It's the affect of the chemical," Osborn said, handing the now unconscious scientist to a nurse.

"Why didn't you answer the radio?" Nova asked, lowering her weapon. Chen held up his radio, or at least what was left of it.

"Knocked the damn thing right out of my hands," Chen muttered. Nova sighed, reaching down for her radio.

"Medical station secure," she said. "Call supply. Doctor Chen needs another radio." Nova was glad that a radio was the only thing that got smashed that time.

Osborn put a hand on Chen's shoulder. Chen looked back, giving her a nod. Satisfied with his response, she immediately went back to work.

"What's the status on the man hunt?" Chen asked.

"Haven't found Grogan yet," Nova explained. "Hailey's volunteered to search the warehouse district since security saw him there, but she stopped answering her radio."

"You think he got her?" Nova's partner asked. "I mean, just look at what these chemicals did to that guy."

"Impossible to say," Chen remarked. "It'll depend on how much of the chemical he was exposed to and how it reacts with his body. Ask Kara if you want more info." Chen fell silent, looking down at the side. Nova couldn't see his expression, but she knew he was thinking about something.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Did Hailey take a team with her?" he asked.

"I would think so. Why?"

"I can't help but wonder if the reason she's not answering her radio…is because she's looking for Grogan herself."

-.-

The warehouse district of Millennium. Millennium was a civilian station meant to be the capital of the Alliance of Four Great Races. So it wasn't like Atlantis with weapons platforms and labs housing deadly nano plagues. It was more akin to a hyper-advanced earth city. And some suburban designs didn't change, such as the presence of a warehouse district.

It was actually one of the more organized places in the city with massive cubic buildings making a grid. And the Millennium Expedition had begun using it to store a lot of their equipment. She didn't know anything about urban development but she's heard that the warehouse districts on Earth are often hubs of transportation to give easy access from any part of the city. Of course that made it the easiest location in the city to escape to.

Hailey had been told Carl had breached quarantine and came to hide in here.

"Carl" Hailey called out as she began making her way through the warehouses. There were so many of them and each of them were massive. She didn't know if she could find Grogan by herself. There was going to be hell to pay when Mercer finds out that she went after Grogan by herself, but she couldn't wait to assemble a team. She was told the chemical made each person dangerous not only to others but to themselves.

Grogan was right. She hadn't completely moved on from Elliot. And she didn't know if she could stomach the loss of another friend.

A figure in the distance caught her eye.

"Carl!" Hailey called out. The person was too far in the distance and Hailey barely caught a glance. But she saw the figure dash into one of the warehouses. Hailey immediately pursued, rushing through the tiny door. The light of the nebula vanished as she stepped into darkness.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the blackness. It was still dark, but at least she could see what was in front of her.

"Hello?!' Hailey called out. "Carl, you in here?" The warehouse was cavernous and her voice echoed through its entirety. If Grogan didn't know it was her, he should have now.

The warehouse had shelves and shelves of spare equipment. There were nearly infinite places to hide.

Hailey kept her trazer at the ready. She didn't want to shoot Grogan, but at least she took comfort that she couldn't kill him. At least not easily. Trazers use chemical reactions to bombard the body with electricity. But, shooting him too many times would kill him.

Hailey shook away these thoughts. She had to focus on finding Grogan.

She saw a black figure standing at the end of the isle.

"Carl?" Hailey asked. "Carl, is that you?"

From the distance, it looked like a man wearing a hooded long coat. But, it was dark and she could be seeing it wrong.

Suddenly, the figure turned and ran off.

"Hey!" Hailey called out, rushing after the figure. It was too late. The shadowy silhouette was gone. But she still ran. Grogan was somewhere here; she was sure of it. She kept running until her legs gave out. She stopped to catch her breath. She leaned forward, steadying her breath. Finally, she recomposed herself. She couldn't go rushing around.

"Carl…" Hailey said, her eyes slowly panning over the crates that lay before her. "Carl, it's me."

Still silence. She knew Grogan was in here somewhere. She had to find him before the others.

"Carl, I don't know what's going on, but I can help you," Hailey pleaded, not sure what to do.

"You can't help me," Grogan answered. Hearing that voice sent chills down Hailey's spine. She helped train him. She had even fought side by side with him in the past. Hearing him so scared…

"Carl, what's going on?" Hailey asked. "What do you mean I can't help you?"

No response. Hailey felt like she was traversing a maze. She had to find the right thing to say to get Grogan out.

"Here, just come with me," she said. "Carl, I only have a trazer. I'm not going to hurt you."

"No!" he said. "I can't go back. Do you know what they'll do to me?"

"Who?"

"_Him!_ I don't know how he's alive but he's…they've been influencing the SGC, Atlantis, even Millennium."

"Grogan, if this is about the IOA, then it's fine."

"The IOA?" Grogan scoffed. "This goes way above the IOA. Hailey…it's the signal. The signal's the key."

"What are you talking about?" Hailey yelled in frustration. She took another step forward when, suddenly, a shimmering red barrier surrounded her. Hailey looked around wildly, immediately recognizing it as one of their forcefields, ones they set to trap people. "No, NO, NO!" she called out in frustration, punching the barrier. She looked through the crimson force shield, watching as Grogan came slowly walking out from behind a stack of boxes, P90 in hand.

"I'm not going back," he said trembling. "He has eyes and ears everywhere. If they take me in, he'll make sure I pay."

"Carl, that's the chemical talking! No one will hurt you, we won't let them."

"How do you know they didn't cause the chemical spill to try to shut me up?"

"The chemicals won't kill you. They only cause panic and paranoia."

Grogan paused for a moment, actually considering Hailey's words. For the first time, Hailey felt like she was making progress.

"You didn't see him," he stuttered. "Maybe the chemical spill is making more nervous. But after I found out the truth, he tried to kill me."

"Carl, take this one at a time. Who're you talking about?"

Grogan's face sagged as he leaned against the box next him.

"I got the data from Typhon when he tried to kill me." Suddenly, Grogan's face lit up. "The data," he said. "Look at the data. It'll prove everything!"

"Alright, do you have it?"

Grogan's face sagged in disappointment.

"No," he sighed. "They destroyed the flash drive."

Hailey looked around anxiously. She had taken too much time.

"Grogan, listen to me," she said. "Security is coming to take you in. They're all armed with trazers. They won't hurt you."

"But he will," he said.

"Damn it, Carl!" Hailey snapped. "Just answer the damn question! Who are you talking about?!"

"It's the Dir-"

Too late.

Grogan whipped around as the doors burst open. There was the unmistakable clatter of foot steps as the room quickly filled with security. Grogan whipped around. Hailey could see seven security guards and Soren file into the room. They all had trazers trained on Grogan. These were stun weapons. Sure they could kill someone if they were shot too many times. But Hailey wasn't worried about that part.

"Stand down, Grogan!"

Hailey's eyes widened with panic.

"Wait!" she screamed, not sure if it was to Grogan or the guards who just came in.

"Get back!" Grogan yelled, his eyes darting to the P90 he had set down.

"No, don't!" one of the guards yelled. "Don't do it! Don't do it!"

"Get away from me!" he yelled, grabbing the P90. There was no hesitation. Two trazer shots went off, capsules full of glowing ionized liquids streaking through the air and hitting Grogan in the chest. Blue light flashed through the room like lightning. Grogan fell to his knees, the muscles in his limbs ceasing to obey his commands.

But it wasn't the guards Hailey was worried about. Grogan had made it clear he wasn't going to be taken in. Even if he lost fine motor control, he still has basic functions. And he used whatever little control he had in his body to bring the gun to his jaw.

"NO!" Hailey screamed, throwing herself at the shield. At least five more trazer shots rang out but it was too late.

She couldn't say how she felt. Part of her felt almost calm, as if her mind had convinced herself that what she saw didn't happen. But as the seconds ticked by, reality crept into her mind. And the truth slowly sank in.

"Get this damn shield off!" she yelled. It didn't take long for the guards to find the shield projector. Soren picked up the shield projector and smashed it on the ground, the red shield immediately vanished.

Hailey rushed to Grogan's side, picking up his limp form. Seeing his face now and remembering what it once looked like sent knives through her heart.

She let out a shuddering breath, biting her lip to try to ignore the tightness in her chest.

"Major," one of the guards said.

"I know," Hailey immediately said. She really wanted to snap at them, to tell them to just leave her alone. But, she didn't have the energy to. "Just…give me a moment."

-.-

Halphas stepped into the empty room beyond the edge of the Central City of Millennium. This was where the Director had set up his headquarters. Normally the masked man would be at a computer looking over files copied from the Millennium computer systems. Or busy playing with a chess board. But, as Halphas walked into the room, he noticed that the chess board was gone, and the Director was simply sitting in the corner, leaning back in his office chair.

"You put the chess board away?" Halphas asked.

"That trope was getting old," the masked man chuckled, tapping his fingers together.

"Master, if you don't mind me asking, was what we did to Carl Grogan necessary? We could have easily killed him."

The Director simply chuckled, crossing his legs.

"Tell me," he said. "What do you think would happen if a member of this expedition were to suddenly end up dead?"

Halphas fell silent, considering all the possibilities. Before the demon could answer, the Director answered for him.

"The superiors would be suspicious. They would investigate. The only way to eliminate Grogan was to do it through a seemingly innocent accident."

"I'm afraid that may not be the case," Halphas pointed out. "By restraining Grogan we have left marks indicating that something more was happening. Our cover may be blown."

"Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. We had to try. And we can only make the best of the hand we are dealt."

The Director paused, looking at the corner of the room, lost in thought.

"Is it time?" Halphas asked.

"Indeed. I have business back in our home galaxy."

The Director leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and folding his hands on his chest. After a moment, his eyes opened again. His body sat up, looking around the room to get his bearings.

"I hope my body served our master well," the Director's body said.

"Indeed, it did, Angra Mainyu," Halphas said with a sneer. "We have both served our master well…"

-.-

"Captain Carl Grogan died as a result of a chemical accident. At 1500 hours, a hallucinogenic compound was spilled in one of Millennium's laboratories. The entire area was quarantined. However, Carl Grogan escaped the quarantine zone with a P90 he procured after assaulting one of the guards. At 1600 hours, Grogan was confronted in a storage building in one of the city arms where he took his own life. Captain Carl Chuck Grogan was declared dead at 1615 hours."

Mercer closed the report, looking out across the table at the IOA members before him.

"Seems straight forward," one of the IOA officials remarked. "Unfortunate. But straight forward nonetheless."

"People of the Tau'ri," a Tok'ra woman said. "I want to express my deepest condolences for what happened."

"Thank you," Harrow said. Everyone at the table may have been speaking pleasantries, but there was a subtle but undeniable edge in their voice. The events of a two days ago still lingered in their minds. They were just playing nice for now until a proper course of action could be decided. But any trust had been shattered. As for the course of action, that was still in the air but being caught planting a virus on the warship of your ally would not lead to anything good. Diplomats were going to have to be dispatched to discuss everything and everyone else could only hope it doesn't blow up.

"General, what of Hailey's mission report? I understand that she reported Grogan to be raving about some type of conspiracy."

"Yes," another IOA member said. "The report says that he claimed that there were elements at work manipulating the IOA. Could this simply be the product of the chemical?"

"And if it isn't?" Verrack asked. "I recall the autopsy reporting bruising around his right wrist. Could those be ligature marks?"

"All we can do is investigate these claims," Mercer said, putting the file away. "I will assign someone to further investigate the matter. Until they report back, we have more pressing issues."

Everyone in the room looked up at the sound of knocking at the door.

"It's alright, everyone," Mercer said, walking to the door. "I was waiting for this." He opened the door, revealing Nova standing on the other side. "Major, the instructions on my desk were clear enough."

Nova nodded, holding out a piece of paper, a list of instructions on how to activate the ark to the mansion.

"I've made my decision," the Major said. "I'll help you." Nova knew that the General could technically just order her to join this little conspiracy of theirs. But he clearly felt that he needed someone who agreed with their belief in order to trust them. And…well…after thinking about it, her mind repeatedly going back to the Quinterans, she's decided she did. At least to an extent. Then again, she didn't even know the extent of this conspiracy. Either way, she wanted to make sure Earth never abused the Alliance technology they now had.

A smile spread across Mercer's lips. Everything was exactly as planned.

"And you understand what this means?" Mercer asked. "We will require absolute and unquestionable obedience. And the consequences for defiance is…severe."

"I get it," Nova sighed. If she had to be honest, she wasn't sure of her decision. She felt like she was betraying the SGC, all her heroes. And she wasn't keen on this absolute obedience thing. But she was a soldier. She was familiar with following orders. She just had to have faith they wouldn't order her to do anything immoral.

"Welcome to the inner circle, Major," Mercer said.

He turned away and held out his hand as if to ask for something. On cue, one of the IOA members gave Mercer a folder.

"What's this?" Nova asked.

"Your orders."

Nova opened the folder, eyes quickly scanning the papers. Reading the paragraphs, she could not help but wonder if there were ulterior motivations.

"Major, your services are required back in the Milky Way," Mercer explained. "General Carter has set up a method of travel between Caldwell 70 and Milky Way. There are some…issues with Earth's neighbors that need attention. And you, Major Nova, will be our proxy."

-.-

Hailey stood at the entrance to Grogan's room. Or, what would be Grogan's room. All his belongings were still in boxes, waiting to be unpacked. Waiting for that which would never happen.

When she woke up that morning, she had hoped the events of the previous day had been a nightmare. It was one thing to hear about losing a friend. It was another to see it happen before your very eyes. She didn't even really remember walking back to her room.

She walked up to the table at the side of the room. A small box sat on the table, open but not unpacked. Hailey walked up to the box, gently opening its lid. Sitting at the top of the box was a picture. A picture of her, Elliot, Satterfield, and Grogan. It was the picture they took after they completed training. Well, the picture they took after she helped complete their training.

She nearly dropped the picture when she heard pounding on the door. Hailey quickly put the picture back in the box and turned around. Standing at the door was Arcturus. Now that the crisis had passed, she was back in her regular clothes with a white dress shirt and blue skirt.

"No offense, Arcturus," Hailey sighed. "But just about everyone else has dropped by to offer me their pity. I really don't want to talk about It right now."

Hailey turned away. She didn't really have anything to say. She looked back at the picture, replaying that day in her head. She didn't know how long she was staring at the picture, but she realized Arcturus had not moved from her spot.

"You just gonna stand there?" Hailey asked.

Arcturus didn't answer right away, instead holding out a folder.

"I took the liberty of gathering the lab reports from your subordinates," Arcturus said. Hailey took the stack of papers, trying to get a read on Samanya's face. Hailey had to remind herself that alien warrior did not always mean stoic and emotionless. Arcturus's face had softened considerably from her normal demeanor.

Hailey opened the folder. Like Arcturus said it was all the lab reports she was supposed to collect from the physicists in her department. This did save her a lot of hassle making sure everyone had it on her desk.

Hailey looked at Arcturus who stood with her arms folded behind her back. Jennifer waited for a moment, waiting for Arcturus to say something. But the knight remained silent.

"Ok, what's your deal?" Hailey asked impatiently. "You first get me coffee this morning with too much cream and now you're collecting my paperwork."

"You told me you did not want to hear it," Arcturus said.

"Well I changed my mind," Hailey sighed in exasperation. "Just get it over with."

Arcturus stared at Hailey for a moment, silently asking her if she was sure. Hailey stare was the answer she needed.

"I don't know the first thing about…being there for someone," she said. "But I do know what it's like to be alone after losing someone. And believe me, being alone is the last thing you need to be."

Arcturus turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Hailey staring. She turned and went back in the room. She set the folder down. She could go through the files at another time.

She was about to continue going through Grogan's belongings when she noticed her PDA had a message. She picked it up and put in her password.

She had gotten a group message from Nova. It told her to meet them in one of the lounges.

-.-

"WHAT?!"

Martin stared at Nova in disbelief. Him, Corin, Chen, and Hailey all stared at Nova. Of course, Nova could only tell her friends specific pieces of information. She didn't tell them she was now helping the IOA and this whole conspiracy thing. But she had to tell her team the new orders. Preferably before Mercer told them.

"So the General's splitting up our team," Martin protested. "Did he say why? Or…maybe Wolf Pack is being deployed to Milky Way?"

"Afraid not," Nova sighed, shaking her head. "Mercer's gonna break the news to you eventually. I figured I should let you guys know."

"So what happens to Wolf Pack?" Chen asked.

"Mercer will probably reassign us," Hailey said.

"Us?" Nova repeated. Nova had caught the term Hailey used. Hailey was part of the Dusk Riders, not Wolf Pack. So that could only mean one thing.

"The Dusk Riders are getting new orders too," Hailey said. "I don't know what they are yet but I know we're supposed to be getting some…reassignments."

"I can't believe this!" Martin exclaimed in disbelief. "The General's splitting up our team."

"You think it's because he knows we know?" Chen suggested. "Split us into smaller more manageable groups."

Nova never considered that. She looked at Corin, who sat in the corner, not a word out of his mouth. She couldn't his expression and that was saying something since Corin's face was probably the most expressive in the group. He had also been silent the entire time. She had an inkling as to why.

Nova then looked at Chen. Martin may have been angry. But Chen looked…sad. Considering his normal expression usually ranged from annoyed to pissed off, Nova felt pained seeing Chen's expression.

"You know," he said. "This doesn't' have to be goodbye. Maybe when you're finished with whatever is going on in Milky Way, they'll let you pick your next assignment. Or you'll be deployed back at Millennium."

"Maybe…" Nova said. But she could not help but feel this was wishful thinking. "Hey, she said, catching everyone's attention. "No matter what our orders are, or where in this universe we're sent…we're still family. We'll always be family."

It was a bittersweet statement. Chen gave a weak laugh. Martin actually smiled. Hailey was nodding in agreement.

Nova looked at Corin. He didn't have a reaction. He was too upset. And Nova knew why. The orders haven't been officially revealed but rumors had been spreading. Paperwork gets filed and those who file it tell friends who tell friends of friends. Corin must've heard one of these rumors. And Nova coming in and saying Wolf Pack was being disbanded was just confirmation. The orders weren't officially announced yet. But she knew exactly what they were. How could she not? She was the one who gave the IOA the idea.

-.-

Nova sighed when she saw her orders. This was all par the course. She gets her orders and she carries them out. Soldiers don't usually get a say where they get deployed to. And now her orders were taking her on a tour back in the Milky Way.

"General," Nova spoke up. "I do want to add my input though."

"You're out of line, Major," an IOA member said. But Mercer held up a hand to silence him.

"I'm listening, Major," Mercer said calmly.

Nova breathed a sigh, looking around. Mercer had always been rather laxed in his command. That had created an almost false sense of security. Afterall, he was host to a Goa'uld. Something told her that if she stepped even one toe out of line, a court martial would be the least of her worries.

"You're worried that Earth might abuse its technology, be too powerful to stop…" Nova said. "The Asgard made us the fifth race. But what we need isn't a Fifth Race. What we need is a new Alliance of Great Races. An Alliance of powerful civilizations, all of them dedicated to preserving peace but all of them capable of keeping the others in check and preventing them from abusing their power."

"An Alliance of the most powerful civilizations…" an IOA woman said near the back. It was clear she thought the idea was idiotic. "And should this Alliance decide to abuse its technology together, you've created perhaps the most powerful force in three galaxies."

"The Alliance needs to be made of civilizations of different views and beliefs. And I know who we should ask first…"

Mercer narrowed his eyes curiously.

"And who exactly do you think should be part of this new Alliance?" he asked, folding his hands. Nova breached out a sigh. This was absurd. And now that she was about to say it out loud, she questioned her own sanity. She was suggesting they ally themselves with the first adversary they made when they arrived in this galaxy. But, they had also gathered a stockpile of Alliance technology, commanded a massive fleet. Nova may disagree with their ideology but she could not deny the purity of their intentions. And getting them to agree to this alliance would put an end to their conquest.

"The Ror'char…" Nova said. "I suggest we form an alliance with the Ror'char…"

-.-

**BACK IN THE MILKY WAY…**

The planet of Eos, once a thriving naquadah mine now desolate wasteland. The environment was devastated by the Goa'uld's reckless mining attempts. And after the mines went dry, the Goa'uld took their jaffa and abandoned the planet and its human slaves. With the end of the Goa'uld Empire, the humans could rebuild. Towns and villages now dotted the landscape, a decent sized population rising from the wastelands. The land may not be a slave camp anymore, but it was still a wasteland.

The tavern at the center of town was bustling during midday, the humans returning with tales of failed attempts to farm the barren lands, a tiny bit of light peeking through the smog and through the window. People were scattered about, drinking at the bar of eating at the many circular tables scattered about. Barmaids went around serving the food and drink. Normally, it was nothing but doom and gloom for the citizens. But, there was something different today. Word had reached the town.

At one table, a group of friends had gathered. But not to talk about their failed harvests. The barmaid came by to serve their orders while they talked about something else.

"Did you hear?" a man at one of the tables asked, his burly body soaked from sweat from working all day. "They say he's coming today."

"Wait?" a skinnier man asked. "Who's coming?"

"Some man named Vu'dir. I hear he's a big deal."

"I hear that he's offering to help us with our situation," a bald man recited.

"What's he going to do?" the barmaid asked, walking by with a tray full of drinks. "Fix our farmlands?"

"I don't know. I hear he promises to help us. We've actually been hearing about this man for a while. I actually thought he's never show."

"I say he's a fraud," the skinny man scoffed, seizing his drink and guzzling it down. "The goa'uld ravaged this planet. There's nothing this Vu'dir guy can do to help us."

While these four talked about this news, a fifth was paying keen interest to the conversation.

"What did you say his name was?" an old man croaked from the bar counter. The five looked at the aging man curiously.

"Vu'dir," the burly man explained. No one knew what it was, but they watched the old man's face pale, the cup in his hands falling to the floor and shatter.

"No," he croaked. "That's not his name." The five looked at him curiously, wondering what had him so shaken.

"You've heard of him before?"

The old man fell silent for a bit, clearly shaken by the memory. Still, it was a tale he had to tell.

"This was long ago, before even the Tau'ri were rumored to have returned. I was once taken to serve the System Lords during a meeting. I served them drinks. They were there to discuss the existence of a creature; a creature rumored to have infiltrated their ranks. It went by many titles across many languages: Vu'dir, Manawir, Trico, I hear he's even called himself The Director. But I know his true name: Momus."

Immediately the five people at the table began laughing at the name.

"Momus?" the barmaid asked. "Like the jester?"

"Isn't he the goa'uld that died because he tried to fire a staff weapon backwards?" the bald man laughed.

"I heard he found a way to shoot himself three times with a zat'nik'tel," the skinnier man chortled.

"You're all wrong!" the burly man exclaimed. "He died because he thought the self destruct button was how you active the hyperdrive!"

"You laugh," the old man said. "…just as they all laughed. But those stories are lies, lies perpetuated by him. Momus is a monster. The System Lords dismissed his tales, but that was thanks to his influence. He was there. I saw him…a black figure in a white mask. He was there. He is everywhere, every shadow is his eyes and ears. Laugh now while you have the chance for we are all pawns in his plan and if you do not watch your step your laughter will be drowned in a tide of blood."

Everyone at the table fell silent, now taking the matter seriously. They weren't sure if it was the man's words or how fearful he was when he spoke them. But now they all felt the same dread he did. Before any of them could speak, the sound of the bar door made them jump. They all looked toward the sound, spotting a pale man walk through the door, a mat of short black hair across his head, elegant dark dress robes flowing down his body.

His figure was concealed behind long flowing dress robes, but it was clear he was not a physically intimidating man, rather slim and short. And his hands were clasped together before him like some sort of monk.

"Hear me, and rejoice," the man said, every word coming from his mouth like a mantra cited a thousand times before. "Salvation has come on swift wings. Your miserable existences have come to an end. But fear not. It shall be replaced by a new beginning. Your lives shall be transformed into ones of meaning and purpose."

Everyone in the tavern has fallen silent, listening to what the strange man had to say. As he finished his speech, a massive black man walked up beside the first, portable staff cannon in hand. This new figure was everything the first man was not. He was a hulking beast, scars on his face, and a ragged and dirty cloak.

The bald man at the table slowly got up, looking around to see if anyone else rather do this. When no one else did, he shakily walked up to the two.

"Momus?" he inquired, looking at the two men.

"I fear the honor of being such a being has not been bestowed upon us," the shorter man said. "I am great Mephistopheles. My cohort is the esteemed Aka Manah. But our greatness pales in comparison to our lord who we speak for and who it seems needs no introduction."

The bald man looked around in uncertainty, the tavern behind them filled with whispers about this news.

"So, he's not coming?"

Mephistopheles chuckled at this question.

"My dear boy, Momus has already arrived. In his humility, he has chosen to spend time amongst you."

Mephistopheles gestured toward the back of the tavern, everyone immediately falling silent. They all slowly turned, all of them looking at a hooded figure sitting near the back, his form shrouded in shadow. Slowly, the figure stood up, candle light illuminating his figure. The shadows were peeled back, a flowing black long coat covering his figure, a hood covering his head, and a featureless white mask covering his face.

The tavern soon filled with whispers again.

"He's here."

"It's him."

"The man in the white mask."

"Momus."

Momus walked to his subordinates, turning to face everyone in the tavern. Everyone was transfixed on the man, not sure what to say. And Momus could sense this. Finally, the hooded man spoke.

"Boo…"

The tavern flinched at this, so on edge that even a mere word made them jump.

"Relax," Momus chuckled, holding a hand up. "Why so uptight?"

The bald man looked at the masked figure, not sure what to say.

"You're Momus?" he stuttered. "You're…not quite what I expected.

"Rarely is reality what we expect," Momus said. "There are many tales about me. But often the truth is so…disappointing."

People across the tavern exchanged uncertain glances. This man was a lot friendlier than they expected. And he was very expressive as well, emotion with every word.

"So, you come to help us?" a man in the back called out.

"You could say that," Momus said, pacing the room. The humans looked at the mask man, waiting for him to advertise whatever services he offered. "If you don't mind me asking, I have to ask, how did it all come to this?" Momus gave a dramatic wave with that statement as if to gesture toward the lands around them.

"I don't understand," the bald man said.

"The System Lords are gone, you can now gate almost anywhere, develop your civilizations. Yet…you linger here working barren wastelands with what could hardly be called plows. These are hardly living conditions."

"We weren't given a choice," the skinny man from the table said. "The former Goa'uld worlds are part of the Jaffa Nation. Humans were left only with the slave planets."

"You couldn't relocate to a jaffa-controlled planet?" Momus asked.

"And live under the jaffa?" a woman at the back.

"You mean you were freed of your slavery merely to be left in the dumps to be terrorized by the Lucian Alliance," Momus repeated. "Are you telling me the Jaffa Nation never tried to help you? Never offered compensation?"

The entire tavern answered that one. It wasn't a unified response, but they were all in agreement. Most of them were muttering amongst themselves about how they never received help, others just shaking their heads.

"That doesn't seem very fair," Momus commented, pacing back and forth, observing everyone's expression. "Many of those worlds were once your homes. And now that you have the opportunity to get them back, you don't?" Momus saw the skinny man at the table look away, clearly remembering something. The masked figure walked up to the man at the table, looming over him. "You remember that day, don't you? The skies red with fire, the grounds torn asunder, a great voice in the sky declaring themselves your new master." Momus loomed over the skinny man, who could only shirk back at his figure. "You never found mommy and daddy, did you?"

"What are you saying?" the barmaid asked. Momus backed away from the skinny man and continued pacing the room.

"It just seems wrong that the people who enslaved through, massacred you, chased from your homes…they now hoard the technology left by the goa'uld, live in their capital cities and paradise planets while the humans they enslaved are left with the slums. Your communities are flooded with kassa and other drugs. You're left at the mercy of the Lucian Alliance and other lawless groups. The Jaffa Nation…you would expect a nation to be willing to provide compensation for their sins. Instead, they keep and live on the lands they forcefully took from you, farm from grounds watered with the blood of your loved ones."

"The jaffa were also slaves to the Goa'uld," a voice from the back.

"True…but they were not equal in that enslavement. They flew their ships, used their advanced technology, had access to their medicine. They were warriors while you, you remained works animals. And no matter how horrendously they were treated, it was nothing compared to the human populations. What happened to them doesn't wash the blood off each of their hands. And now they can live the rest of their long lives without paying for those crimes."

Everyone in the tavern whispered amongst themselves, whispered how it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that the people who massacred their families now lived in better conditions than them. It wasn't fair that the jaffa who enslaved them have a nation and a presence in the galaxy with a fleet of ships while the humans remain meek prey struggling to just make it to the next day.

"We've already made a plea to the Jaffa Nation for help," a person near the back said.

"Yes…and what will this plea result in?" the Director asked, putting a foot on a chair and leaning forward. "Will it really make a difference?" More whispering through the crowd indicated they knew it would get them nothing.

"What would you have us do?" the burly man asked. "It's like you said, they have everything the Goa'uld used to have."

"Not everything," Momus corrected. "The Goa'uld were wasteful. I know the locations of abandoned ships and weapons. Naquadah bombs. I can give you the means to fight back."

"You're asking us to overthrow the Jaffa Nation?" the bald man asked.

"I'm asking you to follow your moral compass." Momus paused, listening to the mutters around him. "Stack enough corpses and the jaffa will have no choice but to listen to your plight. If you don't want this opportunity then I'll take my leave," he said with a shrug, throwing his hands up in front of him. "But it seems wrong that those who have done you so much wrong can now live the rest of their lives without reprisal."

Whispers swept through the tavern.

"And what about the Lucian Alliance?" a man in the back asked. "The moment they hear we have Goa'uld technology, they'll come to claim it."

"I wouldn't worry about the Lucian Alliance," Momus said. "There's a bit of a civil war amongst them right now so they'll be too busy. And if you play your cards right, they will never be able to locate where these new ships are coming from. You probably can't defeat the Jaffa Nation. But you don't have to. You just need to make them hurt until they pay attention."

The people in the tavern agreed, several of them calling out 'yeah', others nodding their heads.

"What about the humans from earth" the burly man asked.

"You mean the Tau'ri?" Momus remarked. "Well, you tell me."

The answer was immediate. And it was anger.

"If they cared they would make the jaffa give us back our homes!" a woman angrily called out, the tavern agreeing with her.

"What they're doing with the Lucian Alliance is just making things worse!"

"They should be letting us come to their planet!"

The tavern cheered in agreement with those statements.

Momus was looking around the room, his smile hidden behind his mask.

"If you intend to surprise me…" Momus announced. "Then don't keep me waiting…jaffa."

The masked man's words did it. A man at the front of the crowd rushed forward, a zat coming out of his outfit. None of the humans had expected this strange cap-wearing man to attack so suddenly. But Momus wasn't completely human. Momus only had to take three long strides forwards to seize the hand holding the zat and directing it up toward the ceiling.

People across the tavern screamed in shock at the azure streak of electricity that shot into the rafters. The man tried to re-aim his zat but Momus kept a firm hand on the weapon, making sure it aimed elsewhere.

"Vu'dir?" the man growled, still fighting to regain control of the weapon.

"In the flesh," Momus chuckled.

"How are you alive? The Tau'ri slayed you."

Momus chuckled at this question, a malignant smile spreading under his mask.

"Spoilers."

Mephistopheles and Aka Manah watched their master scuffle with the person, the man struggling to aim the zat at him and fire, and Momus keeping the weapon to the side. Aka Manah charged his staff cannon and stepped forward, but Mephistopheles put out his arm.

"Let him have his fun," the shorter man said.

With an effortless twist, Momus pried the zat from the man's hand. It went off once more as it was removed, the crowd diving out of the way of the streak of electricity, but Momus seized the weapon and kicked his assailant back. By the time the man looked up, he saw a zat in his face. The masked man could have ended the fight there and then. But Momus didn't intend on shooting him. He retracted the zat and tossed it aside.

With no gun being aimed at him, the man rushed forward again, now a dagger in his hand, raised in the air and ready to be brought down. But it was futile. Before the first stab could land, Momus slapped the hand away, leaving an opening to drive his fist into his attacker's arm before striking the mans across the side of the neck. The man stumbled backwards, his right arm numb, his ears ringing, and his head buzzing. He rushed in again but Momus stomped on his left knee. He stumbled back, the tendons in his leg screaming in pain. Doing anything that used his right leg sent a sharp pain through it. With his target stunned, Momus moved in. Two solid punches to the solar plexis forced all the air from the man's lungs and a hook across his jaw sent him topping over. There was a heavy thud as he hit the floor.

With the man knocked out, Momus knelt over him and pulled the cap off his head, revealing the black tattoo on his forehead.

"A jaffa?" people in the tavern whispered. If Momus' words didn't rile them up already, seeing a jaffa hiding amongst them was the final nail in the coffin. Whispers of confusion turned into whispers of anger, the humans staring down at the infiltrator.

"The choice is now yours," Mephistopheles announced. "We have placed the key to salvation into your hands. Now, all that remains is for you to use it."


End file.
